Minister of Commerce Ömer Bolat attended the ‘Leaders Summit Domestic Technologies Trade and Innovation’ program held at Istanbul Cerrahpaşa University’s Avcılar Campus. Minister Bolat, who made a speech at the program, said, “Our world is going through an innovative period that has never been seen in history. Companies and industries; It is going through a transformation that has never been experienced before with technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnology, nanotechnology, blockchain, virtual and augmented reality. This is a period in which those who focus on innovation and invest more in R&D run ahead and win. With this awareness, we continue our work by mobilizing all our resources to make our country’s innovation ecosystem more attractive, within the framework of the “Turkey Century” vision determined by our esteemed President. Our aim is to transform our country into a center of attraction for innovative companies that produce advanced technologies. “As the Ministry of Commerce, with this understanding, we are implementing studies that will ensure the technological transformation of our country and increase its export capacity.”
“Türkiye MANAGED TO MAINTAIN ITS GROWTH PERFORMANCE EVEN DURING THE PANDEMIC PERIOD”
Stating that Turkey’s economy grew during the pandemic period, Minister Ömer Bolat said, “I would especially like to emphasize that in the post-pandemic period, unlike historical developments, the increase in global trade volume remains below global economic growth. As a matter of fact, it is predicted that the increase in global trade volume will be 2.7 percent in 2024 and 3 percent in 2025, both below the historical average (3.5 percent in the 2000-2019 period) and below global growth. Global trade had already decreased by 1.1 percent in 2023. In addition, nominal world goods exports, which decreased by 4.3 percent last year, remained weak in the first half of this year. According to World Trade Organization data, global goods exports increased very limitedly by 0.8 percent in the first half of the year. Despite all this difficult global conjuncture, we continue to receive positive results from the economic program we have implemented with determination. On the one hand, it is recovering very quickly from the earthquake disaster we experienced last year; On the other hand, the target of reducing inflation is a priority; We are successfully progressing towards economic growth, employment, exports and rapidly reducing the current account deficit. “The Turkish economy, which managed to maintain its growth performance even during the pandemic period, managed to grow by 1.9 percent in 2020, 11.4 percent in 2021, 5.5 percent in 2022 and 5.1 percent in 2023,” he said.
“Türkiye HAS REACHED THE POSITION OF EUROPE’S 4TH LARGEST ECONOMY”
According to IMF data; Stating that Turkey is the 4th largest economy in Europe as of 2023, Minister Bolat said, “Our economy will grow by 5.1 percent in 2023, ranking 1st among OECD countries, 2nd in Europe, and 3rd among G-20 countries.” . In parallel, our per capita national income increased by 24.2 percent, reaching 13 thousand 243 dollars. In the first quarter of 2024, our economy will grow by 5.3 percent; by 2.4 percent in the second quarter; It grew by 2.1 percent in the third quarter. The contribution of net exports of goods and services to the growth rate of 3.2 percent in the first 9 months of 2024 was 1.9 points. (1.9 points in the 1st quarter, 1.5 points in the 2nd quarter, 2.2 points in the 3rd quarter) As of the third quarter results of 2024, the Turkish economy has been successful in achieving uninterrupted growth for the last 17 quarters. In addition, in the third quarter of 2024, our economic size reached 1 trillion 260 billion dollars (2023: 1 trillion 130 billion dollars), thus the record was renewed. “According to IMF data, as of 2023, Turkey has become the 17th largest economy in the world in terms of current prices and exchange rates, the 11th largest economy in the world and the 4th largest economy in Europe according to purchasing parity,” he said.
“INTEREST IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES IS INCREASING IN OUR COUNTRY, AS IN THE WHOLE WORLD”
Stating that Turkey, as Turkey, is taking determined steps towards having a rapidly developing electric vehicle market with the interest triggered by TOGG’s arrival on the roads, Minister of Commerce Bolat said, “Today, Turkey is building its own warship, unmanned aerial vehicles and parts and parts of aircraft, layered It is a country that can produce many high value-added and technological products, including the machines required for production. We are especially pleased to see that our defense industry has been growing with great momentum in recent years and strengthening its position among global players. In the defense industry, where we rank 11th in the world, our production volume is 12.2 billion dollars and our exports are 5.5 billion dollars. Hopefully, we will increase this to 6.5 billion dollars by the end of 2024. In addition to our success in the defense and aerospace sector, the Turkish automotive industry stands out as one of the most prestigious sectors of our country with its annual exports of over 35 billion dollars. Benefiting from advanced technology and a solid supply chain, the Turkish automotive industry not only supports the national economy with significant export revenues, but also encourages innovation and competition in our country. Developments in the field of electricity and electronics are integrated with the changes experienced by almost all sectors, and thus they show a faster and technological development. As you know, we attach special importance to investments that will enable us to have a say in the exponentially growing production of electric and hybrid vehicles. The interest in electric vehicles is increasing in our country, as well as all over the world. As Türkiye, we are taking determined steps towards having a rapidly developing electric vehicle market with the interest triggered by TOGG’s arrival on the roads. “Our goal is to make our country one of the world’s leading players in electric vehicle and battery production,” he said.
Stating that Turkey has taken its place among the top 50 most innovative countries, ranking 37th among 133 countries, Minister Bolat said, “We see the positive reflections of the work we have carried out on R&D and innovation in every field. In this context, according to the 2024 data of the “Global Innovation Index (GII)” created by the International Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Turkey ranked 37th among 133 countries and took its place among the top 50 most innovative countries. Having this position; This is thanks to the great importance we attach to R&D and innovation and the resources we allocate. As a matter of fact, our gross domestic R&D expenditure increased by 178 billion 873 million TL compared to the previous year, reaching 377 billion 542 million TL in 2023. The ratio of our gross domestic R&D expenditure in GDP increased from 1.32 percent in 2022 to 1.42 percent in 2023. On the other hand, while patent applications decreased worldwide for the first time in 14 years in 2023 due to economic uncertainties, the total number of patent applications in Turkey increased by 3.6 percent to 16,433. At this point, I would like to open a parenthesis about Technoparks. Today, in our 104 Technoparks, 91 of which are active, nearly 11 thousand companies continue to work with nearly 115 thousand personnel to reveal the hidden gem of our country in the field of technology. We increased the number of national/international patent registrations originating from Technopark to 2,106; “We are rightfully proud of increasing the number of utility model registrations to 553,” he said.
