Regarding the grain corridor agreement signed between Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations (UN) on July 22, Minister Muş said, “Considering that there is around 25 million tons of grain here and the future of the new crop, a serious problem will be overcome, especially in terms of supply security. ” said. Minister Muş attended the Gong Ceremony at the Konya Commodity Exchange Electronics Sales Hall, and then participated in the "Turkey Export Mobilization" program held at a hotel in the city.
Referring to the grain corridor agreement in his speech here, Muş said that this problem has been resolved with the initiatives of Turkey, under the auspices of the UN, and thanks to the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Minister Muş said, “Considering that there is around 25 million tons of grain here and the future of the new crop, a serious problem will be overcome, especially in terms of supply security. We are in Konya, Turkey's granary. Turkey imports wheat, but Turkey processes the imported wheat and Turkey is the world's largest flour exporter. The most important pasta producer. He actually uses it as a raw material.” used the phrases.
“There is no big problem in Turkey's own security of supply”
Muş stated that Turkey produces as much as it consumes, and some deficiencies are being tried to be eliminated.
Emphasizing that Turkey does not have a major problem in its own security of supply, Muş continued as follows:
“With the opening of this corridor related to our exports, the raw material needed will come. With this raw material to be processed, Turkey will be one of the countries that overcome the supply shortage that may occur in this world as an exporting country in a sense. The second issue is that our merchant ships here have started to leave gradually. Likewise, different countries have ships. They are also leaving this coordination center. Our personnel that we have assigned as a ministry is there.”
Minister Muş stated that the coordination center ensures the coordination of ships coming from all over the world.
Stating that they held talks with the trade ministers of various countries before the grain corridor was opened, Muş said:
“A country's trade minister impressed me a lot. He asked 5 times if this corridor would be opened. Because he needs it. In case of import. Therefore, we may not be aware of it much today, but when a problem occurs, it becomes more visible when a disaster occurs. We think that the corridor is very important and we expect that it will also affect international food prices downwards. Because even the signing of this corridor has stopped the upward trend and now we will see that there is a slowdown in market prices.”
Minister Muş said that their target in the medium-term program for 2022 is less than 250 billion dollars, and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in the evaluation of the export figures for the end of 2021, determined the new target as 250 billion dollars by taking it out of the medium-term program.
Stating that they did not hesitate to reach 250 billion dollars with the performance achieved by exports, Muş said, “We still do not have this hesitation. I even make some analyzes and expectations and estimations about how we can exceed it. However, we have been seeing some slowdowns recently, especially in the international markets, especially in the economies in Turkey's important export markets. America has been shrinking for two quarters in a row. That technically means going into a recession.” he said.
Muş stated that the IMF revised its world growth forecasts and world trade growth forecasts downwards and that this puts Turkey in a difficult position in exports.
“Turkey is going to increase capacity”
Noting that 55 percent of Turkey's exports are to the European Union and non-European countries, Muş continued as follows:
“So a slowdown there can directly affect us. In that respect, we maintain our target of 250 billion dollars. We're currently on hold as to our expectations for exceeding it. We can get on it. Therefore, we believe that we will protect and achieve this target for now. When we look at the import figures, we see the increase in investment goods. Turkey is going to increase capacity. At some point, this will return to production. After returning to production, it will return to export. Of course these take some time. Now, the investments we make today or the investments we have started are reflected in the export figures a year later. There is an incredible appetite for investment right now.”
Muş said that when looking at the last ten years of Turkey, the average energy import is around 35-40 billion dollars.
Pointing out that this figure was 51 billion dollars last year, Muş said, “Whenever we announce the export figures, the opposite of us is 'Why don't you say the import figures?' some criticize us. Energy imports, which averaged 35-40 billion dollars, were 51 billion dollars last year. It's going up to $100 billion this year. If you calculate the energy prices as three times the traditional level, ie 35 billion dollars, the fact that they tripled and doubled compared to last year created a problem in our current account deficit.” he said.
Minister Muş drew attention to the fact that China is facing the lowest growth figures of the last 40 years, and therefore, in an environment where countries are shrinking, it is important for Turkey to maintain its 5 percent growth target and to maintain its export targets alongside this growth.
“We try not to compromise on our growth in exports”
Stating that price increases and inflation rates can cause citizens to complain, Muş said, “I understand this, but it is an issue that everyone deals with. While we deal with this inflation on the one hand, we try not to compromise on our growth and export growth on the other hand. Those dealing with the business world have expanded their business in a way that their turnover and capacity utilization rates cannot be compared, and they have increased their capacity. There is also an expectation of an increase in the future.” made its assessment.
Noting that the development of mutual trade with the USA is in question, Muş said, “The USA will probably come to the first place before too long. Likewise, our imports from there increased. We now want to do a state-based study there. We will send our trade procurement committees there.” he said.
Muş stated that the test production of Turkey's automobile, TOGG, continues, and that its standards and quality are perfect.
Emphasizing that Turkey's quality standards are above a certain point, Muş said:
“They have just started getting their certificates now. They will be finished by February. Normally, the factory can produce, but due to the certificates, March is expected. Therefore, the factory has a capacity to produce at world standards. It can supply many needed things from the surrounding, its sub-industry, the infrastructure there and other manufacturers. According to the models, it has the ability to quickly change the production line in a very fast time. It was designed accordingly. At the same time, a battery factory was established. With this quality standard, Turkey can export higher quality products to the world. It has export potential. Our people are waiting eagerly. It is a very modern facility. There are modern production lines and 90 percent automation. One is truly amazed.”
Muş added that Istanbul Airport is a factor in the shift of trade to Turkey, and that it is a great vision with transportation opportunities and 2-3 planes can take off at the same time.
In the program, Konya Governor Vahdettin Özkan, AK Party Deputy Chairman Leyla Şahin Usta, Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay, AK Party Konya Deputy and Parliamentary Industry, Trade, Energy, Natural Resources, Information and Technology Commission Chairman Ziya Altunyaldız also made speeches.
The program continued with the session attended by Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) President Mustafa Gültepe.
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