We Must Approach Exports With a Comprehensive Understanding
Our exports in April showed a performance parallel to the same month of the previous year. Although we have seen a 2.7% increase in the first four months compared to the same period last year, the sub-breakdowns clearly indicate that we are going through a challenging period. Especially our labor-intensive sectors have largely lost their competitiveness. While the increase in the exchange rate has remained well below the increase in input costs, the euro/dollar parity has also started to work against exporters. For us to achieve our targets, each sector needs to grow by at least an average of 5-10% per year. However, some sectors are not only failing to grow but are also experiencing accelerated losses. The sectors that have seen the most decline in value are ready-made clothing, jewelry, and iron/non-iron metals.
Profit margins have decreased in many sectors. In fact, we have companies that are willing to work at a loss to avoid losing customers. As exporters, we need to keep pedaling like a cyclist to stay upright. Instead of stopping, we need to focus on making moves that will turn the double transformation in global trade into an opportunity for our exports.
In addition to weakening our competitiveness, the exchange rate also poses a challenge for our exporters in terms of accessing finance. The strong interest shown by our exporters at İGE's 'Export Finance Meetings' event in April once again demonstrated how important access to finance is as an issue.
To address the financing problem, we are continuing our efforts to restructure Ticaret Bankası, which we established for our export family last year. Our bank will start providing loans to our exporters towards the end of the year. We are also in discussions with our banks for a support package to be used in financing green transformation.
The contraction of our exports also leads to losses in employment. To ensure that neither our production nor our employment nor our exports contract, we continue to seek new markets far and near. In the first four months, we organized 51 trade and 6 buying missions to 36 countries. We participated in 123 fairs with our associations. However, our efforts can only go so far. We need urgent support to avoid completely falling behind in the global competition. We now want not only to produce more but also to create added value, to use the possibilities of high technology, to brand ourselves, and to discuss innovative ideas. We can achieve this by quickly implementing our government's new support and policies.
We started the second 100 years of our Republic with the vision and goal of bringing Türkiye into the top 10 countries in exports. The conditions are not much more difficult than they were 100 years ago. If we approach exports with a comprehensive understanding, I have no doubt that we can reach our goal. On this occasion, I congratulate you on May 19, Atatürk Memorial, Youth, and Sports Day, and I commemorate Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades with respect.