TİM President Gülle Makes Statements Following UAE Visit

TİM President Gülle Makes Statements Following UAE Visit The Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) conducted its first commercial delegation visit of 2022 to the United Arab Emirates. Following the visit, TİM President İsmail Gülle emphasized that the development of diplomatic relations has opened the way for trade. Gülle said they aim to increase annual exports to the UAE from USD 5.5 billion to USD 10 billion in 2022. Speaking after the UAE visit, TİM President İsmail Gülle stated, "We conducted our first trade delegation visit in two years. This visit was very meaningful. We carried out our trade delegation both with our President's delegation and with our sector representatives. The interest shown to our President and his delegation was at the highest level. An extremely productive and positive program took place. Representatives from our sectors such as jewelry, food, machinery, textiles and ready-to-wear participated in the program. Eighty businesspeople went from here. There, 300 businesspeople from the United Arab Emirates came together. Particularly in 2021, there was very serious momentum in commercial relations. When we crown this with our political relations, we sincerely believe this will grow exponentially. The interest and attention we witnessed demonstrate this." he said.

2021 Exports to UAE Reached USD 5.5 Billion

Pointing out that 2021 exports to the United Arab Emirates reached USD 5.5 billion with a 95 percent increase, Gülle stated, "We also had imports close to USD 2.5 billion. Our expectation is to increase our exports by 100 percent with this momentum and raise it to the USD 10 billion level. We are working at full speed to fill in the USD 250 billion export target set by our President. We will continue commercial relations through both physical and virtual delegations. The interest shown to our President and his delegation was extraordinary. The day before the visit, the projection of the Turkish flag on the Burj Khalifa and the singing of the National Anthem was extremely exciting and emotional. Seeing our country's strength and prestige in the region develop in this way motivated us greatly" he said.

Diplomatic Initiatives Open the Way for Trade

Saying that the diplomatic initiatives launched by President Erdoğan have opened the way for trade, Gülle stated, "Next month we will go to Israel. The Israeli President will come to Turkey. We know that we have positive relations with Saudi Arabia. We also have positive relations with Egypt. These relations are important in shaping and growing our trade in the region. At the same time, many agreements were made on agriculture, logistics, industry, tourism and supporting entrepreneurs. These agreements will underpin the increase of our exports to the UAE from USD 5.5 billion to USD 10 billion levels." he said.

Great Expectations from 2023

Reminding that 2021 exports were the most successful export year in the history of the Republic, Gülle said, "We started 2022 with the same momentum. We ended last month with an increase of USD 2.1 billion. This was also a January record. We are moving with a very positive momentum in February. If we continue at this pace in February to set a historic record, I believe we will reach the USD 250 billion target. In this context, 2023 is a much larger target for us. On the centennial of our Republic, we are eagerly waiting to see these developments in markets where large figures will be reached." he said.

Target: USD 10 Billion in Exports

Noting that the United Arab Emirates has exports of USD 335 billion and imports of USD 243 billion, Gülle expressed his thoughts as follows: "We export USD 5.5 billion to this country. All our sectors export to this country. We should take a larger share of the UAE's imports. Our first target is to increase this to USD 10 billion and then we need to discuss even larger figures. Because the quality of our products is in excellent condition" he said.