TİM Southeastern Anatolia Assembly Convenes

TİM Southeast Anatolia Council Convenes The Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) held its "TİM Southeast Anatolia Council" meeting in Gaziantep to evaluate Turkey's exports and the region's economic dynamics and increase its share. The well-attended program was opened by Gaziantep Governor Davut Gül and TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle. Speaking at the opening, TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle said that Gaziantep serves as a role model for all of Anatolia with its export performance. TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle: "Our province understood Turkey's development very well. It made its investments accordingly and created its brands accordingly. It placed exports at the center of business. Over the last 20 years, our city's exports increased 17-fold. In Gaziantep, exactly 10 of our sectors achieved their highest exports on record in 2021. Furthermore, our Gazi city broke the export record to exactly 100 countries in 2021," he said. The "TİM Southeast Anatolia Council" meeting, organized by the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM)—the umbrella organization of 61 exporter associations, 27 sectors and more than 100,000 exporters—to evaluate Turkey's exports and the region's economic dynamics and increase its share, was held in Gaziantep. The organization, chaired by TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle, was attended by Gaziantep Governor Davut Gül, Sanko Holding Honorary Chairman Abdülkadir Konukoğlu, GAİB Coordinator Chairman Ahmet Fikret Kileci, Association Chairmen Ahmet Kaplan, Mahsum Altunkaya, Mehmet Çıkmaz, Salahattin Kaplan, TİM Women's Council Vice Chairman Adalet İnan, TİM Women's Council Member İpek Teymur Külekçi, KOSGEB Chairman Hasan Basri Kurt and Gaziantep Chamber of Industry Board Chairman Adnan Ünverdi.

"Gaziantep's Exports Rose 48 Percent in 4 Years, Exceeding USD 10 Billion"

  Speaking at the opening of the program, TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle drew attention to the high export performance shown by Turkey and Gaziantep over 4 years. Gülle said "Four years ago when we took office, we held our Southeast Anatolia Council program. On that day our exports were USD 164 billion, our number of exporting firms was 65,000, our export volume was 115 million tons. Gaziantep's exports were USD 7 billion, total Southeast Anatolia exports were USD 10.3 billion. We had 2,528 exporters in Gaziantep and 3,685 in Southeast Anatolia." "In the 4 years since then, we have reached a point where our exports have risen to USD 225 billion. Our number of exporters has exceeded 100,000. Our export volume has reached 174 million tons. Gaziantep's exports rose 48 percent, exceeding USD 10 billion. Gaziantep's economy grew 19 percent, our Southeast Anatolia region grew 13 percent, the number of exporters in Gaziantep rose to 3,490 and in Southeast to 5,355. The number of organized industrial zones in Gaziantep increased to 6, and the number of organized industrial zones in Southeast increased to 15. God willing, with 2 more organized industrial zones to open in the region in the near future, our region's exports will increase further," he said.

10 Sectors in Gaziantep Achieved Record High Exports

  Noting that Gaziantep ranks fifth among our cities with the highest exports, TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle continued: "Over these 4 years in our province, the Electrical-Electronics sector exports increased 300 percent, dried fruits 102 percent, grains 70 percent, carpets 54 percent, and Textile sector exports increased 34 percent. Exactly 10 of our sectors in Gaziantep achieved their highest exports on record in 2021. Furthermore, our Gazi city broke the export record to exactly 100 countries in 2021."  

"We Are Closely Monitoring Developments in the Gaziantep-Mersin High-Speed Rail Project"

  Emphasizing that reducing transportation time and costs for exported goods will become far more important in the coming period, TİM Chairman Gülle drew attention to the fact that 66 percent of Gaziantep's exports in 2021 were by sea and 30 percent by road. Gülle said "We are closely monitoring developments in the Gaziantep-Mersin High-Speed Rail Project, which will particularly reduce costs in the port entrance process. We have also expressed the importance of this line for our exporters in the region in discussions with our Transport Minister. Once the process is completed, with this line becoming operational in three years, God willing, we will continue our exports at more favorable costs and at a faster pace."  

Our Exporters Show Strong Interest in Turkey Logistics Portal

  TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle stated that the Turkey Logistics Portal, which they launched last October, has been met with strong interest by our exporters. Noting that more than 2,000 firms have registered and begun using the service, designed as a digital bridge between exporters and logistics providers, İsmail Gülle expressed confidence that the Turkey Logistics Portal, with its evolving structure, will provide much greater benefits to our firms.  

"We Will Leave Better Tomorrows for Future Generations"

  Emphasizing that they will witness many changes in meaning in 2022, TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle continued his remarks as follows: "As the Turkish Exporters Assembly, we are part of this transformation. Because with the rise in our exports, we are now in a new league in global trade. In the new period, we are forming both our strategy and our approach to exports with an understanding that will increase quality alongside quantity. By establishing a sustainable system in exports, we will leave better tomorrows for future generations. We have laid the foundations of projects that will create this infrastructure. Our TİM Brand Council, established last year, has quickly launched projects that will serve the value of our exports and our country's brand. Additionally, our TİM Women's Council, established to ensure the active participation of our women in the economy and exports, continues its activities for women exporters and entrepreneurs with a busy agenda. We organize virtual and general trade missions especially for our women exporters; we bring our women exporters together with buyers around the world. Moreover, next week, with the presence of Ms. Emine Erdoğan, we will hold our awards ceremony to crown the successes of our women exporters. In addition, to train the export-skilled generation of the future from today, we established YoungTİM. In a very short time, YoungTİM has reached over 600 members. The number of YoungTİM members from our Southeast Anatolia region is 37." "Furthermore, with awareness of the reality of climate change, we have established our TİM Climate Committee to anticipate all opportunities and risks that may arise. Following our TİM Sustainability Action Plan, our sectoral action plans continue to be implemented one by one. Following our Textile Action Plan announced in June of last year, we will also announce the roadmap for our agricultural sectors in the coming days. Through our TİM SME Export Mobilization training program, we meet with firms from all corners of our Anatolia."  

732 Firms from Gaziantep Made Their First Export This Year

  Noting that they moved the program to Gaziantep in the pre-pandemic period to evaluate the great potential in Gaziantep and bring new members to the export family, TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle stated that thanks to these efforts, on average 1,700 firms began exporting each month in 2021, and 732 firms from Gaziantep joined the export family by making their first export this year.   Stating that another important work contributing to increasing the number of exporters and market diversity is trade missions, Gülle said "Despite the pandemic, we brought our exporters together with the world through 106 missions held in 73 countries. We will also hold our Israel trade mission on March 5 with broad participation. We invite all our firms that wish to develop their commercial relations with the region to our trade missions."