Turkey will exceed its year-end export target of $170 billion, Turkey Exporters Assembly (TİM) Chairman İsmail Gülle said yesterday.
He said that the recent political tensions between Ankara and Washington did not affect trade, indicating that no changes have been observed in export figures related to the U.S., compared to past figures. The positive environment foreseen in the upcoming period will allow export figures to increase, according to the TİM chairman, who said Turkish exporters were carrying out studies in order to boost exports to different countries, and that in this context, they were closely following the European countries.
Furthermore, Gülle noted that they were also continuing their work to establish alternative export markets. "The political tensions between Turkey and the U.S. didn't have any negative effect until the end of September. Our exports to the U.S. as of September have been the same compared to the same period last year, there was no decline. That is to say, trade continued on its way without being affected by the political tensions. This positive environment will turn this into a plus. This process has brought a lot to Turkey, now we are following Europe more closely, we want to become closer and sell more goods. We want to export more to other countries as well. It is not good to concentrate on a single market, it is necessary to create alternative markets," TİM chairman explained. Exports recorded a 22.6 percent rise in September that reached $14.5 billion, the highest September export figures, according to official figures released by the Trade Ministry and TİM. The increase in exports saw the highest jump over the last 13 years with exports totaling $123.1 billion between January and September, with a 7 percent increase compared to the same period last year. The statement of the Trade Ministry also noted that Turkey's imports decreased by 18.09 percent and totaled to $16.3 billion; therefore, the trade deficit dropped 77 percent year-on-year, calculated at $1.8 billion Export figures for this year are following a positive course, Gülle said, indicating that the highest rate of exports meeting imports was seen in September and that the same scenario has continued in October.
