Aegean Exporters’ Association Coordinator President Jak Eskinazi, in his message specially published for the 100th anniversary of the Republic, said, “We believe that exports will be the driving force for Turkey to continue its development in its second century and become one of the 10 largest economies in the world. “We must focus on the second century with the spirit of the first years of our Republic.” said.
Gazi Mustafa Kemal, who believed that military successes should be crowned with economic successes and that we would become a strong state in this way, personally chose Izmir, an industrial and export city, as the meeting place to create a very good economic program. He summarized the importance he attached to the congress with the following words: “Just as the Erzurum Congress enabled this nation to rise to its feet, the Izmir Economic Congress will be the starting point of the Turkish economy. That’s why this congress is so important.”
The important decisions taken for the development of industry and exports at the Izmir Economic Congress were as follows; “Domestic industry will be protected by heavy tariffs against foreign goods. Intermediate goods required for the industry will enter duty-free. No customs will be collected from facilities coming for investment. In domestic tenders, substitute goods will be preferred even if the price difference of domestic goods exceeds 100 percent compared to imported goods. State lands up to 5 acres will be given free of charge to entrepreneurs who will establish facilities on them. The exemption here is for Turkish citizens. For companies to comply with this, it will be sufficient for 75 percent of the shares to be local. Industrial incentive is valid for 5 years. Once this period expires, it can be extended for another 25 years. People, civil servants and soldiers will be ensured to use local textiles. Importance will be given to industrial training. Chambers of industry will be established and these chambers will have a parent organization. Banks will be established to transfer resources to industry. This initiative will be realized by purchasing shares from existing banks and with the contribution of the state. Access to places suitable for establishing industrial facilities and the country’s natural resources will be provided. Railways will be built and highways will be laid. “Commodity transportation will be provided at cheap tariffs.”
The Aegean Region is represented by 159 companies in the top thousand exporters list of the Turkish Exporters Assembly.
Aegean Exporters’ Association Coordinator President Jak Eskinazi said, “While agricultural products were dominant in the pattern of our exports in the first years of the Republic, today our exports of industrial products come to the fore. Our service sectors provide significant foreign exchange earnings. We believe that exports will be the driving force for Turkey to continue its development in its second century and become one of the 10 largest economies in the world. We must focus on the second century with the spirit of the first years of our Republic. In order to be among the top 10 economies, we must grow with exports. We must achieve a minimum 10 percent increase in exports every year. Unfortunately, we will fall short of this goal on the 100th anniversary of our Republic. We believe that in order to achieve this target in the following years, the wheels of exporters must turn, an exchange rate that does not succumb to inflation, appropriate term financing, and state aid provided to our exporters must be used in foreign currency, as in previous years, under conditions that will maintain our competitiveness with our competitors in the world for the continuation of production.” He continued:
“Technology is developing at a dizzying pace. This change will accelerate further in the next century. So much so that, while 10 percent of today’s professions will become obsolete in the next 30 years, new professions will come to the fore in business life. The majority of children born today will be in jobs that do not exist today. Data analysis will become more valuable than ever.
Products and services will diversify in the coming period, but exports will continue in the next century, as it has for thousands of years. While agricultural sectors were at the forefront in the years when the Aegean Exporters’ Associations were first established, today industrial sectors are at the forefront in EİB’s exports. Our clean energy, software, recycling, information systems, defense technologies, telecommunications, vocational training, design and agriculture sectors will come to the fore in the second century.”
Stating that traditional marketing methods continue in exports, Jak Eskinazi said, “Digital marketing will be one of the topics we need to focus on. In the coming period, we will take faster steps to reach the point where we can export what we do today with containers directly to consumers. The second century of our Republic will be the century of artificial intelligence. Of course, while doing all this, sustainability will be our main principle.
“We are celebrating the 100th anniversary of our Republic, and we will continue to work 7 hours a day, 24 days a week, with a new spirit, to achieve the goal of reaching the level of contemporary civilizations set by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Founder of our Republic in the second century.” he said.
Source: Railly News