Exports hit record $10.7 bln, logistics main concern
Posted by meb at March 3rd, 2008
Turkey’s exports hit $10.67 billion in February, an increase of 40.8 percent over the same month last year, according to Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) President Oğuz Satıcı. Satıcı announced February exports results on Saturday at a press conference on a truck in İstanbul with the participation of Foreign Trade Minister Kürşad Tüzmen to show support for transporters and the logistics sector.
Year-on-year exports as of the end of February increased by 26.4 percent, hitting $112.3 billion. According to Satıcı, there were declines in exports in only two sectors, hazelnuts and hazelnut products and olives and olive oil.
The highest exports by value occurred in the manufacturing industry, with $9.4 billion of exports in February. Agricultural products’ exports hit $1.03 billion, while metals and mineral exports amounted to $245,000.
In February, Turkey’s main foreign trade partners were — in descending order –Germany, Italy, England, France, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Spain, Romania, Holland and the US.
Tüzmen said at the meeting that Turkey’s growing exports will reduce the foreign trade deficit — the main item in the current account deficit. He said the ratio of exports over imports was around 70 percent in February. “This is really important because this rate was 61.9 percent last year,” he said. Tüzmen added that one third of Turkey’s imports were in the energy sector and that Turkey paid $3.5-4 billion for energy imports in February. He also emphasized the importance of the logistics sector in foreign trade.
Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım could not attend the meeting, but he made a speech via telecast. He said countries that cannot provide regular mobilization of goods and services with their borders cannot be competent in international trade, either. He explained his ministry’s efforts to develop transportation routes and to boost the logistics sector.
He said the number of firms operating in the sector had been 934 in 2002 and that this number had increased to 1,523. He said the number of transportation vehicles in the sector had increased by 29 percent to 187,000 in the same period.
Yıldırım said transportation is not a trade, itself but an instrument that boosts trade and tourism between countries. “That’s why every kind of quota and visa on transportation should be removed and as ministry we support the removal of all quotas, not only in Turkey, but across the world,” he said.
’Let’s defend our rights by legal means’
Satıcı said the logistics sector has played a key role in the rapid growth of Turkey’s exports. He said transportation services had become more and more complicated as the global trade volume soared in recent years. He said Turkey, which is aiming to export $500 billion in 2023, should focus more on logistics. He added that logistics professionals must develop long-term strategies and methods for implementing these strategies.
Satıcı also said TİM supported the International Transportation Association’s (UND) action plan on “Europe with no quotas” — aiming to remove quotas imposed on Turkish transporters. He said due to the quotas there were halts in transportation and cost increases, which curbs trade volume. “Facing these problems with our largest trade partner, the EU, makes the issue more vital,” he said, adding that the ultimate cost of quotas imposed on transportation was around $5 billion, not just to transporters but to all exporters and other economic actors.
Satıcı said the foundation of the EU customs union, the free mobilization of commodities, cannot be implemented by just allowing goods to be sold freely in all markets. He explained that suppliers must not be face restrictions while transporting these goods.
As the negotiations with the EU on transportation policies have come to a halt, Satıcı said there is no way to solve this problem through negotiations. “Let’s take action and play the game by its rules,” he said, suggesting that lawsuits should be field and that the quota problem should be discussed on international platforms.
UND Chairman Tamer Dinçşahin said quotas on transportation reduce competitiveness, as new orders cannot be accepted after the quotas have been exceeded.
He said Turkey has one of the largest and newest transportation fleets, with 43,000 trucks. He said Turkey’s transportation sector would keep growing despite the obstacles. He said the main problem they were dealing with was transit-bill quotas, which cause delays in the delivery of commodities. He said a one-day delay in delivery causes a 1 percent decline in the trade volume according to World Bank data.
source: Today’s Zaman
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