Türkiye İMSAD Statement on the "Economic Stability Shield" Package

Türkiye İMSAD Chairman Tayfun Küçükoğlu: "Inventory financing support for exporters is important for maintaining our manufacturers' competitiveness" Türkiye İMSAD (Association of Building Materials Manufacturers of Turkey), the umbrella organization of Turkey's construction materials industry, issued a statement regarding the Economic Stability Shield package implemented to mitigate the effects of coronavirus on the economy. Noting the importance of measures taken to prevent the coronavirus pandemic threatening the entire world and minimize its effects on Turkey's economy, Türkiye İMSAD Board Chairman Tayfun Küçükoğlu stated as follows: "We find it very important for our sector that the Economic Stability Shield package announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan includes regulations that will positively affect the construction materials industry. 'Providing inventory financing support to exporters for the purpose of maintaining capacity utilization rates during the temporary slowdown in exports' will be a measure that will give confidence and relief to our sector, which is focused on exports due to domestic market contraction. This support is very important for maintaining our manufacturers' competitiveness because as Turkey, we are among the world's top 5 countries in construction materials production. We export to 115 of the 140 countries listed in the Global Competitiveness Index. Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Israel and Iraq are our most important markets. Among the countries to which we export the most are China, Romania, France, Yemen and Italy. The fact that our country's construction materials are known and trusted worldwide in terms of quality encourages us to move forward with confident steps in global trade. As construction materials manufacturers who achieved USD 21.5 billion in exports in 2019, we believe we will reach the level of USD 23-24 billion in 2020." he said.