"OVP is an open invitation to potential investors in Turkey"

Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat stated that they are determined to achieve the $100 billion trade volume target between Turkey and the US and to develop economic relations. Bolat said, "The OVP is an open invitation to potential investors to Turkey." The 13th Turkey Investment Conference was organized by the Turkey-US Business Council (TAİK) of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) and hosted by Goldman Sachs. The conference was attended by Minister of Trade Bolat, as well as Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek, TBMM Industry, Trade, Energy, Natural Resources, Information and Technology Commission President Mustafa Varank, President of the Presidential Investment Office Burak Dağlıoğlu, DEİK President Nail Olpak, TAİK President Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ, business world representatives from the US and Turkey, and portfolio investors. Bolat stated at the conference that the world is on the verge of a new industrial age, and that green and digital economies have become two parameters of new economic development, forcing companies and countries to reconsider their priorities and design innovative tools for sustainability. Pointing out that the geopolitical turmoil and supply crises in critical sectors following the pandemic have changed the nature of traditional production and distribution strategies, Bolat stated that global direct foreign investments are also on the decline at this point and the competition to attract foreign investment is higher than ever. Bolat noted that investments are being restructured in line with digitalization and environmental goals, supply chains are being remapped and industrial production is undergoing a transformation. Trade relations with the US Stating that global challenges force countries to take concerted actions, Bolat expressed his belief that while actions to overcome these challenges are being reshaped, the US and Turkey should be closer than ever and cooperate more. Bolat said, "Turkey is determined to achieve its $100 billion trade volume target with the US and to develop economic relations." Minister of Trade Bolat emphasized that as a government, they are ready to take action and take the initiative to advance trade relations with the US. "Turkey attracted 255 billion dollars of investment between 2002-2023" Pointing out that recent data are an indicator of the strength of the Turkish economy and the confidence in the country's economy, Bolat stated that Turkey's gross domestic product (GDP) reached its highest level in the last 8 years with 906 billion dollars in 2022, and that they aim to exceed 1 trillion dollars this year. Stating that Turkey's exports exceeded 254 billion dollars last year, Bolat noted that exports are one of the main driving forces of Turkey's economic growth. Stating that foreign direct investment in Turkey was around 15 billion dollars until 2002, but increased to 255 billion dollars in the 2002-2023 period, Bolat said that the share of the manufacturing industry in GDP increased to 22 percent in the last 10 years, and the share of R&D expenditures in national income has tripled in the last 20 years. “We will strengthen economic institutions” Bolat spoke about the main focal points of the Medium Term Program (MTP) announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, such as reducing inflation, focusing on fiscal discipline and export-increasing strategies. Underlining that the MTP is an open invitation to potential investors to Turkey with its perspective on rational, predictable and transparent economic tools, Bolat emphasized that they are determined to preserve the competitive, business-friendly nature of the investment environment in the country. Stating that they are also aware of the significant challenges experienced in the world economy, Bolat said, “In the new period, we will strengthen our financial sector and economic institutions, support the private sector and continue to make regulations that will encourage investment inflows.” “International companies prefer Turkey for their operations” Stating that they believe that Turkey’s production infrastructure and young and qualified workforce will become more attractive to US investors as the importance of supply chain reliability increases, Bolat said that Turkey has been positioned as a production and export base by US investment companies in the region for over 20 years and that the amount of direct investment coming to Turkey has increased significantly. Bolat stated that despite the political fluctuations and global economic difficulties in the region, international companies preferred Turkey as the regional center for their operations and said, "Our main priority in the coming period is to ensure a safe and effective trade regime for all investors. As a government, we are ready to assist investors in achieving our common goals." Bolat stated that they are particularly interested in projects that will serve Turkey's ongoing technological transformation process and emphasized that they will strongly encourage innovative, R&D-intensive, high value-added product and service investments as well as green and renewable energy investments. "The Turkish-American alliance has become even more important in the new period" Bolat noted that they believe that US investors can easily benefit from Turkey's strong production infrastructure as they constantly try to diversify their production bases in line with the requirements of digital and green transformation. For this reason, Bolat stated that cooperating with US companies is an important opportunity and said: "The Turkish-American alliance has become even more important in the new period. We are also aware of the difficulties and pending problems in our bilateral relations. However, we are also sure that economic cooperation can always be a positive agenda item in Turkey-US relations. We invite you all to benefit from investment opportunities in Turkey. If we can evaluate the opportunities with the business circles in the US and Turkey, we can easily reach our goal of a bilateral trade volume of 100 billion dollars. This can be achieved if we continue our determination."