Trade Minister Bolat: We will close 2023 with a national income of over 1 trillion dollars

Trade Minister Ömer Bolat stated that 2023 will be closed with a national income exceeding 1 trillion dollars and that the national income per capita will rise to 12,500 dollars.

Minister Bolat expressed his pleasure at being in the city during the "Export Mobilization Summit."

Stating that the Ministry of Trade has a wide field of activity, Bolat spoke as follows:

"Regulation and inspection issues related to all sectors are within our authority. From 1973 to 2004, Turkey struggled with double and triple-digit inflation. Since 2004, under the leadership of our President, the AK Party governments have fundamentally eliminated this 31-year-old problem, and Turkey was introduced to single-digit inflation. This continued for about 18 years, but with the COVID-19 crisis, the whole world was introduced to the reality of inflation. High inflation, which had not been seen in 40 years in Europe and America—where it was 1 percent—exceeded 10 percent. In our country, it was around 8-10-12 percent. We also experienced a major jump in inflation. There were disruptions in the production chain, and disruptions in the supply, logistics chains, and transportation lines. When Turkey was seen as a production and supply base, more important than the Far East, a very intense export attack began from Turkey. When there was a shortage of goods domestically, there were jumps in prices. Unfortunately, among the residues left to us by COVID, pricing behavioral disorders and opportunistic tendencies began to be effective in some areas of business life. On one hand, the fight against inflation began, and on the other, the fight against those who turned to unfair commercial practices like a virus entering their veins."

Minister Bolat stated that they have increased measures in the automotive sector and said, "With these measures we have taken, we saw that vehicles in stock began to emerge slowly after the middle of August, and 600 thousand vehicles appeared in a one-month period. We were conducting inspections and making seizures against hoarding, and we were applying penal measures, but the market began to reveal these stocks on its own. After these measures we took, a decline of up to 20 percent began in second-hand prices first. Then, when the stocks emerged and the bubble and froth in sales disappeared, we saw that campaigns began, especially in the first-hand market. In fact, transactions in the market returned to normal, got back on track, and the bubble and froth disappeared. Life and trade returned to normal. The same thing manifested itself in real estate. There was a picture where the bubble disappeared with a decline of around 20 percent in housing and shop prices. This also began to reflect on rental prices," he said.

Stating that as the Ministry of Trade, they stand with production, investment, employment, and trade, Minister Bolat expressed the following:

"The more trade increases, the more enrichment and prosperity increase, but there have been very extraordinary conditions in the world in the last 5 years. Unfortunately, these extraordinary conditions have overshadowed Turkey's 16-17-year success of single-digit inflation. We want to eliminate this shadow again and enter a period of a stable market once more. We will do this together with all players in the sector, both producers and consumers, and we are striving to do so. We have no ill intentions toward anyone, but we are also applying all measures with the state's legislative, executive, and supervisory power to protect the public and consumers against those who work informally and try to disrupt the market."

Minister Bolat emphasized that the view of Turkey from abroad is very positive and noted the following:

"Great interest and respect are shown primarily to our President and our country. We see this in all our trips and contacts. We have a strong economy. Despite major difficulties both domestically and globally, we are still able to stand back up and continue to strengthen in a short time. We will close 2023 with a national income of over 1 trillion dollars, and our national income per capita will rise to 12,500 dollars. This year, demand in the world has fallen, and world production has stagnated. We also experienced a huge shock with the February 6 earthquakes, where we faced a loss of 6.5 billion dollars; we lost 51 thousand of our brothers and sisters, and there was great destruction. I wish God's mercy upon those who lost their lives. Despite this, Turkey achieved an average growth of 4.7 percent in the first 9 months. Even China and India are around these figures... In the EU, it is around 0 percent. We had started our exports with an 8 percent loss in the first 2 months, but hopefully, we will finish in the positive. We will also finish our service exports with a 13 percent increase. Our foreign trade deficit and current account deficit have begun to decline, and there is also a decline in our imports compared to the same months of last year. We have also progressed by achieving an increase in our exports in the last 5-6 months compared to the same months of last year. We have managed to regain the markets and quantities we lost in the first half. We are hopeful for 2024; there is a political and economic picture in the world, and there are certain wars, but despite this, we will continue to work with determination and enthusiasm."

Gaziantep Governor Kemal Çeber also stated that Gaziantep is a city that produces, creates employment, earns, and makes others earn, and thanked those who contributed.

Following the speeches, a plaque was presented to Minister Bolat.

News Source: 12punto