We Have Successfully Completed Yet Another Challenging Year

Despite the slowdown in global demand and the weakening of our competitiveness, we take justifiable pride in having left another year behind as part of the export family. In goods exports, we closed eight out of twelve months with positive growth, achieving an all-time high for December with $23.5 billion. With an annual export volume reaching a record-breaking $262 billion—an increase of 2.5%—we elevated our share in global goods exports to 1.08%.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all members of our export family who contributed to this remarkable success. As the Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM), we dedicated significant effort throughout the year to connecting our firms with new markets and customers. In 2024, as in 2023, we placed strong emphasis on delegation programs. Together with our exporters' associations, we organized 135 delegations to 58 countries, facilitating a total of 35,000 bilateral business meetings for our companies and representing our country in nearly 350 trade fairs. 

Last year, we welcomed 15 new firms into our export family. Thirty-one of our provinces achieved exports exceeding $1 billion, and we set export records in 59 countries. Our exports of high-tech products reached $8.8 billion, while exports of medium-high-tech products climbed to $92.4 billion. Increasing the share of medium-high and high-tech products in our total exports to 41% stands as the strongest indicator of our progress toward value-added production goals.

In service exports, where we set a target of $110 billion for 2024, we completed the first ten months with $97.1 billion. According to annualized figures, as of October, we have reached $112.5 billion. During the same period, a $54 billion surplus in service trade made a significant contribution to Türkiye's foreign trade balance.  

This outlook vividly reflects our production strength, technological transformation, and global vision. We are fully aware that sustaining these achievements requires even greater efforts. Every step taken to ensure the continuity of production and exports, enhance the competitiveness of our firms, and solidify our position in global trade is of critical importance. Protecting our industrialists, reducing financing costs, and maintaining a balanced exchange rate with inflation should remain among our top priorities. In this regard, we are ready to do our utmost to support every step taken by our government.

Despite regional conflicts and global uncertainties, we are embarking on 2025 with an ambitious target of $280 billion. In pursuit of this goal, we will continue organizing even more delegations to connect our firms with new customers. Taking into account the global political and economic landscape, we have completed our efforts to identify target markets where our companies can be directed. Throughout this process, we have also considered the Ministry of Trade's Far Countries Strategy and the Islamic Countries Export Development Strategy within the framework of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

I firmly believe that achieving our target will not be an unattainable dream, provided that the obstacles slowing us down in 2024 are removed. With this belief, I wish for 2025 to bring prosperity and success to our entire export family and our nation.