Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu stated that the primary condition for economic growth is a strong transport infrastructure. Minister Uraloğlu said, “There is no trade without transport. We have invested approximately 282 billion dollars in our country’s transport and communication infrastructure. We will strengthen our country’s economic and geopolitical status with the Development Road Project.”
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu spoke at the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) January 2025 Foreign Trade Figures Press Release program. Minister Uraloğlu stated that TİM, which has been operating since 1993 to ensure the development of foreign trade and to represent business people at the highest level, has always been a leading organization in its field. Uraloğlu said, “It has carried out very successful work to solve the problems of our exporters and has made a great contribution to the growth of the Turkish economy.”
Emphasizing that the AK Party Governments led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have a single struggle, Uraloğlu made the following statements in his statement:
“That is to increase the welfare of our nation and to add strength to the power of our country, which is a global actor. Without a doubt, strong leadership and political stability are the most important elements of economic development. At this point, under the strong leadership of our President, who has taken our country to a new era in every field from social to economic, from law to foreign policy, from education to health, from defense industry, from transportation to environment and urban planning, from production to technology, with his strong will, we have entered the Turkish Century by building a competitive economy and breaking records in production, employment, exports and national income.”
Turkey's Growth Performance Above World Average
Uraloğlu, who pointed out that Turkey has displayed a growth performance above the world average of 5,4 percent with an annual average growth performance of 3,6 percent during the AK Party governments, said, “While our national income per capita was approximately 2002 dollars in 3, it exceeded 500 thousand dollars in 2024. We expect our income per capita to exceed 15 thousand dollars in 2028. We aim for our country to be among the top 20 economies in the world and among the top 2053 economies in the world in terms of purchasing power parity in 10.”
Trabzon is the Province with the Most Exports in the Eastern Black Sea Region
Uraloğlu also noted that under the leadership of President Erdoğan, Turkey continues to write success stories by adhering to the principles of growth through investment, employment, production and exports.
Underlining that they broke the record in exports in 2024, Uraloğlu said, “31 of our provinces exported over 1 billion dollars, and exports increased in 54 of our provinces. Trabzon became the 1,3th province in our country with the most exports in 2024 with approximately 19 billion dollars of exports. Trabzon also became the province with the most exports in the Eastern Black Sea region.”
Uraloğlu, who stated that Trabzon alone made 324 percent of Turkey’s hazelnut exports, which reached 438 thousand 32 tons last year, said, “It provided 836 million 599 thousand dollars of foreign exchange inflow to our country. Fishery product exports from Trabzon to 2024 countries in 22 increased by 21 percent compared to the previous year and reached approximately 145 million dollars. Trabzon has undoubtedly always played an important role in all stages of our country’s development process and continues to contribute to the Turkish economy’s transition to the global economy.”
Uraloğlu, who pointed out that TİM is an organization that has made a name for itself with the importance it gives to new ideas and innovation, continued his words as follows:
“With this mission and vision, TİM has always played a leading role in solving the problems of our exporters and guides them all around the world. Undoubtedly, these studies will gain more importance in the upcoming period. Because, while on the one hand, the trade balances and commercial understandings in the world are changing radically, on the other hand, global markets are faced with more supply every day.”
The First Condition for Economic Growth is Strong Transportation Infrastructure
Stating that the primary condition for economic growth is a strong transportation infrastructure, Uraloğlu said, “There is no trade without transportation. Investment comes thanks to roads. Just as rivers that fertilize the soil bring vitality to the places they pass through, transportation projects are the same. The safer and faster you can reach a region, the more industry develops in that region, the country develops, the economy grows, and employment is created.”
Over $282 Billion Investment in Transportation and Communication Infrastructure
Uraloğlu, who gave the example of how the number of OIZs on the highway route almost doubled in a short time with the construction of the Istanbul-Izmir Highway and the Osmangazi Bridge, said, “At this point, with the awareness of how important a corridor our country is in terms of international trade, we have made an investment of approximately 23 billion dollars in our country’s transportation and communication infrastructure in the last 282 years. We have implemented mega projects such as Marmaray, Eurasia Tunnel, Yavuz Sultan Selim and 1915 Çanakkale Bridges. We have equipped our country with divided roads, highways, airports and high-speed railway lines and carried it forward with smart transportation systems.”
“We Continue Our Work to Increase the Effectiveness of the Middle Corridor”
Minister Uraloğlu, who stated that in addition to providing multimodal transportation connections in Turkey, they are also carrying out very serious work to establish uninterrupted and high-quality transportation infrastructures between continents by creating international corridors, said, “As Turkey; we continue our work to increase the effectiveness of the Middle Corridor with many projects from the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line to the Zangezur Corridor. As you know, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line has given a new direction to railway transportation. Our work on the implementation of the Zangezur Corridor is also ongoing. With this corridor, we aim to offer an alternative option to the transportation routes on the Middle Corridor.”
Minister Uraloğlu, who stated that they continue to work on the Development Road Project that will carry cargo from China, East Asia and India to Europe via the Persian Gulf, continued his words as follows:
“As part of the Development Road, we have planned to invest in 2 kilometers of new lines for the 92 kilometers of railway connections passing through our country, and 727 kilometers of new highways for the 923 kilometers of highway corridor. We are planning to make an investment of 331 billion dollars in this context. We will further strengthen the economic and geopolitical status of our country with the Development Road Project, which we call the New Silk Road.”
“Business Owners Who Invest in Brands Win”
Noting that other important issues in international trade are quality production, innovation and branding, Uraloğlu said, “Today’s people are now looking for the best and highest quality of everything. Therefore, business owners and entrepreneurs who invest in brands and turn what they produce into a sought-after brand win. What I mean is, there are a thousand and one different products in Trabzon, but we also need to give importance to branding while producing them. If your product becomes a sought-after brand, they will find you even in Fizan. All you have to do is produce quality, branded products.”
“There is an Accessible Türkiye Now”
Uraloğlu, who also provided information about transportation investments, said, “There is now a Turkey that is accessible from the far north to the far south, from the far east to the far west. There is a Trabzon with a very, very developed transportation infrastructure. We have also invested 153 billion liras in the transportation and communication infrastructure of Trabzon.”
Minister Uraloğlu, who stated that they increased the length of divided roads in Trabzon from 2002 kilometers to 56 kilometers and the hot bituminous mixture coated road network from 245 kilometers to approximately 89 kilometers in 515, said, “We connected the Black Sea Coastal Road to the Sarp Border Gate with divided roads. We completed the Zigana Tunnel, which is the longest double-tube highway tunnel in Turkey, and enabled all Middle Eastern countries, especially Iran, to reach Trabzon and the Black Sea. We were fortunate to complete the famous Tangent Road, which took years.”
Uraloğlu, who also stated that they are nearing the end of the Kanuni Boulevard project, said, “Trabzon Southern Beltway, we started that too. Work on our 22 highway projects such as Vakfıkebir Organized Industrial Road, Araklı-Dağbaşı-Uğrak Road continues. We will connect all our cities starting from Samsun, Ordu, Giresun, Trabzon, Rize and Artvin, with our Samsun-Trabzon-Sarp high-speed railway project that will reduce the time between Trabzon and Samsun to 2 hours.”
Work Continues at Trabzon Airport
Uraloğlu also stated that they have started working to bring a new airport to Trabzon in line with the increasing number of passengers, and reminded that they opened the international arrivals terminal and CIP buildings in August. Uraloğlu said, “We are currently continuing our work rapidly to complete the renovations in our domestic terminal and international departures terminal, and we will complete them in 2025.”
Uraloğlu stated that they have full faith in the constructiveness of Turkish manufacturers and exporters and said, “Our export culture is gradually expanding, and exports are spreading to the base and every corner of the country. Have no doubt that as the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, we will always continue to support our exporters with our investments.”
