EİB Strengthens Relations with ICBC

Strengthening Relations Between EIB and ICBC Ege İhracatçı Birlikleri held a meeting to discuss possible new cooperation with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Haier Group to increase mutual trade volume between the parties. Attending from Ege İhracatçı Birlikleri were Coordinator Chairman Jak Eskinazi, Chairman of Aegean Dried Fruit and Products Exporters Association Mehmet Ali Işık, Chairman of Aegean Aquatic Products and Livestock Products Exporters Association Bedri Girit, and General Secretary of Ege İhracatçı Birlikleri Cumhur İşbırakmaz. From ICBC: Deputy General Manager Chunyi ZHENG of ICBC Turkey A.Ş., Department Director of International Transactions Jun DING of ICBC Turkey A.Ş., Department Director Guang LI of ICBC Turkey A.Ş., Senior Consultant Ismail KIYMA of Project and Cross Border Financing Department of ICBC Turkey A.Ş., Senior Consultant Zhiyi LUO of ICBC Turkey A.Ş., Senior Manager Xinying LI of Financial Institutions and Cross Border Department of ICBC Turkey A.Ş., and Manager Director Berna ÖĞÜT ÖZER of ICBC Turkey A.Ş. Bornova Branch. According to Ege İhracatçı Birlikleri Coordinator Chairman Jak Eskinazi, regionalization in global trade and supply from neighbouring geographies are two important topics on the world agenda following the pandemic. Rising new trade alliances in the Trans-Pacific region, particularly RCEP signed by 15 Asia-Pacific countries, are a prime example. With RCEP, China is taking steps to support its economy by being part of a trade bloc for the first time, through investment agreements with the EU and Iran, and most recently by applying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) involving 11 Asia-Pacific countries. In February, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was also signed between India and the UAE. As Turkey, we established various strategies in 2019 through the Re-Asia Initiative and Export Master Plan to strengthen our trade with China.

EIB preparing to join Chinese e-commerce platforms

Eskinazi recalled that Ege İhracatçı Birlikleri declared 2019 as "China Year" and noted that the China working group established within EIB has been working intensively for four years to plan activities targeting the Chinese market. "We made presentations to ICBC and Haier Group officials about the activities of the China working group established at EIB in 2019 and bilateral country trade, and at the meeting we reached agreement with ICBC on opening a corporate account in China. The e-commerce platform "COSMOPLAT" developed by Haier Group has a brand value of CNY 55.7 billion. COSMOPLAT is on the list of China's most valuable 500 brands and operates in 15 different sectors, 7 national centers, 12 regions and 20 countries. The most important members of this platform are chambers of commerce, importer associations and societies in China, providing package services to their members from logistics and warehousing to supply chain financing. The platform is under the control of China's Ministry of Commerce. We exchanged ideas on what can be done to support our members' e-commerce to China."

EIB's China efforts

Jak Eskinazi stated: "Our initiatives continue to increase mutual trade volume between the two countries using local currencies. The Chinese version of our corporate website, a first for our country, has been launched. At the same time, since 2019 we have organized webinars with the participation of Trade Advisors, ICBC Bank officials and importers from China. For many years, we have been organizing Turkey's national participation in the China International Import Expo held in Shanghai and the world's largest natural stone fair in Xiamen. We also have WeChat accounts. We are in contact with e-commerce platforms such as JD and TMALL. We are working to establish a logistics hub in Southeast Asia. Since 2016, we have the TURQUALITY Project covering South Korea, Japan and China."

Target USD 400 million

Announcing that exports from Ege İhracatçı Birlikleri to China reached USD 305 million with a 4 percent increase in 2021, Jak Eskinazi continued: "Of our 2021 exports, mining accounts for USD 129 million, industry accounts for USD 94 million with a 50 percent increase, and agricultural products account for USD 81 million with a 40 percent increase. Looking at the top 10 product groups in our exports: minerals and ores, meat and offal, cotton, iron and steel products, dried fruits and products, animal or plant solid and liquid oils, machines, mechanical equipment, nuclear reactors and boilers stand out; their parts. Our potential products in exports are baby products, cherries, wine, natural stone, leather products, perfume and cosmetics, and livestock products. In the January-May period of 2022, we had USD 98 million in exports. In 2022, we aim to increase our exports to China to USD 400 million."