Innovation and Sustainability to Dominate Exports in 2019

İsmail Gülle, Chair of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), stated that 2019 will be the year of "Sustainability and Innovation in Exports" for Turkey's exporters, who are heroes of global trade. Gülle said, "We must now focus not only on leaps in export figures, but primarily on achieving sustainable momentum in our export volume. While continuing our projects in R&D and design, we need to concentrate our efforts on increasing support for domestic and national production in products with high imported inputs. As Turkey, we must demonstrate to the entire world through our investments that our success in exports is sustainable. In this regard, we will focus on developing service exports, particularly in the software sector, alongside brand, design and R&D.

Gülle, reminding that exporters' target is a "Turkey with a Foreign Trade Surplus," said, "To achieve this, since the second quarter of 2018, our exports have maintained a positive growth trend, and we aim to provide all kinds of support to strengthen it further.

As our Minister of Trade, Sayın Pekcan, recently stated, we must advance the growth rate in high-technology industrial products, which was 3.3 percent in the first nine months of this year. In this regard, we will focus on developing service exports, particularly in the software sector, alongside brand, design and R&D. Indeed, service exports will also make a mark in the "innovation" aspect. I believe that service exports, currently at 44 billion dollars, will bring us more joy in 2019. Gülle continued: "As Turkey, demonstrating a true example of stability in our region, we have achieved an average growth momentum of 5.7 percent over the past 16 years. We have become the world's 13th largest economy by purchasing power parity. We now have products bearing the Turkey brand in all regions of the world. It falls to us to sustain this stability in a manner befitting Turkey's exporters. As TİM and the export family, we are ready to do whatever is necessary to realize our commitments. Because we know that exports are this country's sole way out. Opening that door wide and advancing toward our goals is indispensable for us. In this sense, 2019 will be a year in which we exporters, who are the field soldiers of Turkey's trade diplomacy, achieve sustainability in our exports and welcome new approaches and members to our export family through innovation. On this occasion, I wish that 2019 brings peace, stability and prosperity to the world, our country and our region; and success and happiness to our economy."