'Turkey to maintain recovery momentum in foreign trade'

Turkey will maintain its strong recovery momentum in foreign trade over the months ahead, the country's trade minister said on Friday.

Leading foreign trade indicators such as the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) are showing positive signs, Ruhsar Pekcan said at the virtually held meeting of the Turkey Chemistry Sector Council.

On Turkey's export performance, Pekcan underlined that the country continued its exports "with all our strength and with great skill despite the pandemic and all external factors."

She noted that Turkey had registered an all-time high February exports figure with a 9.6% year-on-year rise to $16 billion and highlighted that investments, production and exports were among the country's vital and top priorities.

"Therefore, it's extremely important that we act in a planned and programmed manner on a sectoral basis," she said, adding that the meeting offered a unique opportunity to discuss the dynamics of the industry in order to review the country's goals and future plans.

She said the chemical industry is among the target sectors under the country's Export Master Plan announced in August 2019 for sustainable exports and stressed that her ministry would continue supporting the sector.

The chemical sector, except solid mineral fuels, saw a 6.2% year-on-year rise in exports, reaching $17.2 billion in 2020.

In the first two months of 2021, the figure jumped 15.7% to $3 billion.

The two-day meeting, organized under the chairmanship of the Istanbul Chemical and Chemical Products Exporters' Association (IKMIB), will address the current situation and future expectations of the chemical industry through seven different sessions.