By News Centre

The 7th Commercial Diplomacy Awards Ceremony of the Foreign
Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEİK) was held at the Lütfi
Kırdar Convention and Exhibition Centre, with the participation of
Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat and DEİK President Nail Olpak.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Bolat recalled that the 2025
Elective Ordinary General Assemblies of DEİK Business Councils had
been completed, stating that he congratulated the newly elected
business council presidents and board members and wished them
success.

Emphasising that the world has recently witnessed successive
geopolitical developments in global politics and economics, Bolat
said that the global political and economic system is undergoing a
multi-layered transformation, driven by trade wars and sudden
economic fluctuations. He drew attention to the fact that rising
protectionist trends in global trade, rapidly increasing customs
tariffs, and the vulnerabilities these create in the global economy
are shaking fault lines within the global system.

Stressing that Türkiye must be prepared for all kinds of
volatility and change, Bolat said:

“We continue to move forward with a national stance in global
markets, producing, creating employment, increasing our exports
across the world, and striving to raise our country’s level of
prosperity to the highest point.”

Bolat noted that global economic growth is currently running
below historical averages, adding that over the past 20 years, the
average growth rate of global trade has, in some years, remained
below global economic growth.

Pointing to the strong performance achieved thanks to the
efforts of tradespeople, farmers, SMEs, and entrepreneurs, Bolat
said Türkiye has succeeded in delivering record results in economic
growth, increasing exports of goods and services, and overseas
contracting services, adding that Türkiye has managed to positively
differentiate itself from its global competitors.

Bolat stated that the reforms implemented in Türkiye, economic
policy measures taken, and the strategy of opening up to the global
economy with export-oriented growth have played a major role in
driving economic expansion.

Indicating that inflation rates are expected to begin falling
into the 20 percent range in January and February, Bolat said, “Our
goal is to bring inflation below 20 percent by the end of the
year.”

Recalling that Türkiye has increased its exports of goods and
services eightfold over the past 23 years, Bolat said:

“For this year, our President has set before us a target of 282
billion dollars in goods exports and 128 billion dollars in
services exports, exceeding 410 billion dollars in total. With your
great efforts and by increasing our competitiveness in global
markets, we will succeed in surpassing this target as well.”

Minister Bolat said that Türkiye was the OECD country that
increased its exports the most in the post-pandemic period, adding
that Türkiye’s share of global trade is expected to rise above 1.07
percent based on figures for 2025.

Pointing out that the European Union (EU) is Türkiye’s largest
foreign trade partner, Bolat noted that Türkiye is also the country
that increased its exports the most when compared with the 27 EU
member states.

Bolat underlined that last year 33 provinces exceeded $1 billion
in exports, while 46 provinces increased their export volumes,
saying:

“We broke annual export records with 69 countries. We exported
more than $1 billion to 50 countries. We renewed our export records
in 33 product chapters. 12,861 companies exported for the first
time. 22 companies achieved exports exceeding $1 billion, while 42
companies recorded exports of over $500 million.”

Noting that the Turkish defense industry proudly represents the
Türkiye brand even in advanced countries, Bolat said:

“In the defense and aerospace industry, by the end of 2025, we
will have reached a record export figure of $10.054 billion,
representing a 40-fold increase over 23 years. As a result,
production turnover in this sector—which provides employment for
100,000 people—has also reached $20 billion.”

Bolat stressed that the government will continue to support
strong trade diplomacy in exports, contracting, and services
exports, adding:

“We are aligned and in agreement with the European Commission on
updating our Customs Union with the European Union. We are
currently awaiting the EU Council’s approval to authorize the
European Commission to begin negotiations. At the same time, we are
conducting lobbying efforts with Council member states on this
issue.”