Stating that they predict Iran to contribute to export by 8-10 %, Büyükekşi expressed that they got the jump on everybody and concluded mutual trade agreement with Iran. Büyükekşi emphasized that they look for a place for opening an agency in Tehran and added that they will offer opportunities to many sector representatives from automotive to chemistry and from apparel to furniture.
Iran is the most important target market
Stating that Iran is one of the most important target markets for export amounting to 155 billion USD this year, Büyükekşi added that, “We established contacts in Iran together with the President, Prime Minister and ministers and gained advantage by concluding mutual trade agreements. Visa exemption will offer opportunities to the business world as well. I believe that the export to Iran will further increase in the long term. We hope that 2016 will be a better year for our country, our economy and our export industry.”
Agency will be opened in Iran
Emphasizing the importance of progress focused on opportunities in 2016, Büyükekşi pointed out to Iran as the most important opportunity for reaching the targeted export figure. Stating that they are searching the impacts of this country on the foreign trade following the abolition of the embargo on Iran, Büyükekşi continued by saying: “We look for a place in Tehran to open a permanent agency in Iran. In this way, we will get ahead of the rival countries. Iran is a country having a Gross Domestic Product of 404 billion USD and an import value of 40 billion USD. Improvements in the Money transfer with the abolition of the embargo strengthen our hand. There used to be 4 million tourists from Russia, this number is 1.5 million for Iran. We can get advantage by increasing this number of tourists from Iran. Besides, many foreign firms will want to enter Iran by making cooperation with the Turkish firms. We believe that Iran will provide great opportunities.”
New Markets
Reminding that the search for new markets to increase export figures is a constant item of the agenda, Büyükekşi also said that EU countries are among targets as well. Expressing that they want to increase the export share of EU, which is showing a growth tendency, to around % 50 from 46 %, Büyükekşi added that, “An export increase of 10 % to such EU countries as Germany, England and Italy in which our export volumes are above 10 billion correspond to an increase at the amount of 1 billion USD. However, 10 % increase in a country where our export volume amounts to 1 billion USD does not bring such an impact. As new markets, we expect improvements in trade with Israel and Egypt once again. We have searches for these countries as well.” Also assessing the impact of the increase in the minimum wage on competition in export, Büyükekşi stated that they think they could compensate it with the increase in exchange rates and government aids.
