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By News Centre

The 7th Commercial Diplomacy Awards Ceremony of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEİK) was held at the Lütfi Kırdar Convention and Exhibition Centre, with the participation of Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat and DEİK President Nail Olpak.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Bolat recalled that the 2025 Elective Ordinary General Assemblies of DEİK Business Councils had been completed, stating that he congratulated the newly elected business council presidents and board members and wished them success.

Emphasising that the world has recently witnessed successive geopolitical developments in global politics and economics, Bolat said that the global political and economic system is undergoing a multi-layered transformation, driven by trade wars and sudden economic fluctuations. He drew attention to the fact that rising protectionist trends in global trade, rapidly increasing customs tariffs, and the vulnerabilities these create in the global economy are shaking fault lines within the global system.

Stressing that Türkiye must be prepared for all kinds of volatility and change, Bolat said:

“We continue to move forward with a national stance in global markets, producing, creating employment, increasing our exports across the world, and striving to raise our country’s level of prosperity to the highest point.”

Bolat noted that global economic growth is currently running below historical averages, adding that over the past 20 years, the average growth rate of global trade has, in some years, remained below global economic growth.

Pointing to the strong performance achieved thanks to the efforts of tradespeople, farmers, SMEs, and entrepreneurs, Bolat said Türkiye has succeeded in delivering record results in economic growth, increasing exports of goods and services, and overseas contracting services, adding that Türkiye has managed to positively differentiate itself from its global competitors.

Bolat stated that the reforms implemented in Türkiye, economic policy measures taken, and the strategy of opening up to the global economy with export-oriented growth have played a major role in driving economic expansion.

Indicating that inflation rates are expected to begin falling into the 20 percent range in January and February, Bolat said, “Our goal is to bring inflation below 20 percent by the end of the year.”

Recalling that Türkiye has increased its exports of goods and services eightfold over the past 23 years, Bolat said:

“For this year, our President has set before us a target of 282 billion dollars in goods exports and 128 billion dollars in services exports, exceeding 410 billion dollars in total. With your great efforts and by increasing our competitiveness in global markets, we will succeed in surpassing this target as well.”

Minister Bolat said that Türkiye was the OECD country that increased its exports the most in the post-pandemic period, adding that Türkiye’s share of global trade is expected to rise above 1.07 percent based on figures for 2025.

Pointing out that the European Union (EU) is Türkiye’s largest foreign trade partner, Bolat noted that Türkiye is also the country that increased its exports the most when compared with the 27 EU member states.

Bolat underlined that last year 33 provinces exceeded $1 billion in exports, while 46 provinces increased their export volumes, saying:

“We broke annual export records with 69 countries. We exported more than $1 billion to 50 countries. We renewed our export records in 33 product chapters. 12,861 companies exported for the first time. 22 companies achieved exports exceeding $1 billion, while 42 companies recorded exports of over $500 million.”

Noting that the Turkish defense industry proudly represents the Türkiye brand even in advanced countries, Bolat said:

“In the defense and aerospace industry, by the end of 2025, we will have reached a record export figure of $10.054 billion, representing a 40-fold increase over 23 years. As a result, production turnover in this sector—which provides employment for 100,000 people—has also reached $20 billion.”

Bolat stressed that the government will continue to support strong trade diplomacy in exports, contracting, and services exports, adding:

“We are aligned and in agreement with the European Commission on updating our Customs Union with the European Union. We are currently awaiting the EU Council’s approval to authorize the European Commission to begin negotiations. At the same time, we are conducting lobbying efforts with Council member states on this issue.”