Young Businesspeople Meet Deputy Minister of Economy Fatih Metin and Economic Advisors

At a meeting convened by Turkey's Young Businessmen Association (TÜGİAD) Ankara Branch bringing together Deputy Economy Minister Fatih Metin, his economic staff and business representatives, economic policy was placed on the agenda. At the consultation meeting of the TÜGİAD Ankara Branch, where investments, exports, incentives and support to accelerate investments, problems and solution proposals were discussed, Deputy Economy Minister Fatih Metin, Export General Director Özgür Volkan Ağar, Import Deputy General Director Ahmet Erkan Çetinkayış, Free Zones Overseas Investment and Services General Director Uğur Öztürk and Incentive Implementation and Foreign Capital Deputy General Director Zergül Özbilgiç met with business representatives. The meeting held at the Holiday Inn hotel drew strong attendance from TÜGİAD members, ATO Assembly Members, heads and members of prominent civil society organizations, and sector and business representatives.   TÜGİAD Ankara Branch Chairman Ercan Kahraman, who opened the meeting, thanked participants, saying they considered this meeting where all aspects of the economy were discussed to be very important. Kahraman spoke as follows: "In the third quarter, we became the world's fastest-growing economy. The importance of our country's exports is very great, and we at TÜGİAD make serious contributions to this export. We say that strength comes from unity. We will continue our growth momentum in the periods ahead. We will achieve this in the fourth quarter as well. We have come together with the goal of taking this development momentum even further. The support from our ministry is very valuable. God willing, we will continue these successes in 2018, and with the ideas you give and the work you have done, we as private sector businessmen who apply this best will continue to work rapidly for happy tomorrows."

"Turkey must find its rightful place in the new world order"

TÜGİAD General Chairman Ali Yücelen said in his remarks that Turkey must find its rightful place in the new world order, noting: "We at TÜGİAD, apart from our own affairs, travel the entire world behind issues that we view as a national duty. Leading among these are innovation, entrepreneurship and the new global economy. Those following TÜGİAD will closely observe that all 7 separate trips we have made in the last 6 months have been about understanding start-ups in the world, the development of the entrepreneurship ecosystem globally and its application in our country. We will continue to do this. Until a unicorn—a billion-dollar company—comes from this country and becomes an example to Turkish entrepreneurs and Turkish youth, we will continue our efforts to travel the entire world and explain this to our entrepreneurs here and convey developments in the world to our state leaders here. Our goal at TÜGİAD is the global market. We are open to opportunity; with the right product, the right business model, the right process and the right procedures, we create world-class products, and no one can stop that."

"Turkey's strength extends far beyond where we stand today"

Deputy Economy Minister Fatih Metin, emphasizing in his remarks that they shape their efforts by taking input from all segments of society, especially the business world, said: "Your views direct the policies we produce. If today Turkey has captured the opportunity to be number one in the world with growth rates above 11 percent, it happened together. Our job as the government is to clear your way, remove every type of obstacle and contribute to the production and investment you do. With the efforts of every representative of our private sector, the Turkish economy has become a country that has continuously grown and developed over the last 15 years, risen to 17th place in the world in size, and stands at 13th place in purchasing power parity. We all know that this country's strength extends far beyond where we stand today. It is the responsibility of all of us to carry this benchmark, which we have achieved over 15 years and which was created through political stability and a climate of confidence, to even higher levels," he said. Minister Metin noted that TÜGİAD's mission of being "the place not for those who have, but for those who want to have" is very important and the key to success, adding that Turkey's current position is thanks to this entrepreneurial spirit. Emphasizing the importance of civil society organizations' power in terms of participation in society, the development of democracy and shaping the future, Deputy Minister Metin also noted that the approximately USD 18 billion in exports and USD 20 billion in imports by TÜGİAD members—constituting a USD 40 billion foreign trade volume structure—is very important and congratulated TÜGİAD. Touching on past years' economic policies, Metin said, "From fiscal policies, budget discipline and economic policies to policies covering every area of life, we have conducted very disciplined and structurally very important reforms. As of this year, we have achieved Turkey's highest export in the nation's history and are targeting exports exceeding USD 157 billion. We achieved a world record with 11.1 percent growth. We expect above 4 percent growth in the final quarter. We will run toward this target together with you," he said.