Erdogan: We aim to eliminate the factors that increase inflation

Meeting with representatives of the business world at a dinner organized by the Turkish-American Business Council (TAİK), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that the increasing trend in trade volume with the US was satisfactory and said, "Our goal is to reach 100 billion dollars. We aim to eliminate the factors that increase inflation." President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "The United States was the 2nd country to which we exported the most and the 5th country to which we imported the most last year. As of the end of 2022, our bilateral trade volume increased by more than 15 percent, exceeding 32 billion dollars. However, our goal is to reach 100 billion dollars." Erdoğan, who is in New York to attend the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), met with representatives of the business world at a dinner organized by the Turkish-American Business Council (TAİK). According to AA, Erdoğan expressed his pleasure to meet with representatives of the business world again in his speech and pointed out that Turkey and the US have long-standing allied relations within the framework of NATO. Emphasizing that they wish to strengthen and continue this partnership, which makes significant contributions to the security, peace, and stability of the Euro-Atlantic geography, Erdoğan said, "Our economic and commercial activities with the United States are an important dimension of our bilateral relations. Our bilateral trade volume has increased 1.5-fold in the last 10 years. The United States of America became the 2nd country to which we exported the most and the 5th country to which we imported the most last year. As of the end of 2022, our bilateral trade volume has exceeded 32 billion dollars, an increase of more than 15 percent." "We should also diversify our cooperation in the economic field with the United States" President Erdoğan stated that this increasing trend in trade volume with the United States was satisfactory and said, "However, our goal is to reach 100 billion dollars. For this, we need to increase our mutual efforts. We have high expectations from you in this context. While advancing our relations with the United States on a political level, we should also diversify our cooperation in the economic field." Drawing attention to the great potential between Turkey and the U.S. in areas ranging from new technologies to critical sectors, from innovation to manufacturing, from artificial intelligence to cyber security, Erdoğan said that the energy sector was another critical area where cooperation could be advanced. President Erdoğan made the following statements: "As Turkey, we accelerated our efforts for the exploration and production of natural gas and oil following our historic discovery in the Black Sea. As you know, we recently opened our Istanbul Finance Center. We want to transform our country into a global center in the fields of finance and participation finance with the Istanbul Finance Center. We will establish a new structure within the center where the marketing and evaluation of many products, from natural gas to minerals, will be carried out. We also want to turn the Istanbul Finance Center into our 'energy hub.'" "Detroit flights planned to begin on November 15th" Explaining that Turkish Airlines operates flights to 342 destinations in 121 countries and that direct flights are made from Istanbul to 12 points in the U.S., Erdoğan said, "Flights to Detroit, which will constitute the 13th flight destination, are planned to begin on November 15th." President Erdoğan emphasized that they are pleased with the course of relations with the US in the field of tourism, and said that with the decrease in the impact of the pandemic, more than 1 million US tourists were hosted in Turkey in 2022, and they hope that this number will increase even more in the coming period. “Turkey is an important regional production and service base for American companies” Drawing attention to the fact that Turkey has written a great success story from economy to trade, from defense industry to infrastructure investments in the last 21 years, Erdoğan continued his words as follows: “Thanks to the reforms we have implemented, our country has attracted over 252 billion dollars of international direct investment in the last 20 years. Turkey’s share in global investments is 1.03 percent in 2022. Approximately 14.4 billion dollars of direct investment inflow from the United States to Turkey. I would like to especially thank the 2,088 American companies and American entrepreneurs who have invested in our country for their trust in the Turkish economy. Turkey is an important regional production and service base for American companies. Currently, many international companies, including Americans, prefer Turkey as a regional manufacturing, export, management, logistics, engineering and research and development center. This position of our country has become even more prominent in the post-pandemic period.” “Turkey is the 2nd country with the highest growth rate among OECD members” Explaining that while Turkey is healing the wounds of the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, it has also achieved 3.8 percent growth in the second quarter, Erdoğan said that Turkey has thus managed to become the 2nd country with the highest growth rate among OECD members and the 3rd country among G20 countries. President Erdoğan stated that Turkey achieved 165 billion dollars in exports in the 8-month period and 253.5 billion dollars on an annual basis, and pointed out that a much busier season was experienced in tourism compared to the previous year. Expressing that there was no decrease in employment, Erdoğan noted that a net increase of 220 thousand jobs was achieved in the first 6 months of the year despite the earthquake. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “We will definitely not compromise on economic growth. We aim to eliminate the structural elements that increase inflation by applying all tools of monetary, fiscal and income policies.” Erdoğan, who stated that inflation, which has reached its peaks in the last 60-70 years in the world, is naturally a problem for Turkey as well, reminded that they shared the Medium Term Program, which is a 3-year roadmap, with the public last week. Erdoğan, who stated that they determined the priority reform steps in 7 basic areas from growth and trade to price stability and financial stability, from human capital and employment to green and digital transformation, from disaster management to public finance and the business and investment environment, continued as follows: "We will definitely not compromise on economic growth. We aim to eliminate the structural elements that increase inflation by applying all tools of monetary, fiscal and income policies. Our main focus is the establishment of a sustainable growth climate thanks to our policies that prioritize investment, employment, production and export. We aim to grow by an average of 4.5 percent under the leadership of high value-added private sector investments." Stating that Turkey is the 11th largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power and the 17th largest in nominal terms, Erdoğan said, "We will reach an economic size exceeding 1.3 trillion dollars and a per capita national income of 14,850 dollars for the first time in our history by the end of 2026. We will reach an export of 300 billion dollars and a tourism income of 70 billion dollars in 2026. We aim for an increase of 2.7 million jobs during the program period and an annual average increase of 900 thousand jobs." “Turkey continues to be a safe haven for international investors” Noting that the exchange rate has stabilized due to the steps taken, Erdoğan noted the following: “With its political stability, educated workforce, young population, large domestic market and access to regional markets, strategic location and modern logistics infrastructure, Turkey continues to be a safe haven for international investors. We are further consolidating this position thanks to the close dialogue we have established with regional countries. During our visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates last month, we signed agreements totaling over 50 billion dollars. We have been continuing our search for a solution to the Russia-Ukraine War since day one. We have demonstrated a strong will to resolve the issues between us and Israel and Greece. During this visit, we met with the prime ministers of both countries and discussed the issues on our agenda. We attach great importance to our renewed dialogue with Egypt. We still maintain our goal of full membership in the European Union despite the obstacles put in our way and the injustices we have been subjected to for 60 years.”