Avdagiç listed 3 items: Troubles will disappear

Istanbul Chamber of Commerce President Şekib Avdagiç stated that financing costs should be reduced in the short term, new initiatives should be made regarding access to financing and the correlation between the exchange rate and inflation should be preserved, and said, "We have the power to overcome all difficulties. As long as we quickly put into effect a policy set that will increase Türkiye's investment capacity and gradually eliminate the difficulties we are experiencing in exports." Avdagiç reminded AA correspondent that they have been trying to support a policy set regarding reducing inflation in general from the beginning, and said that it is not right to tighten monetary policy only through the business world. Avdagiç, who stated that producers and exporters have to struggle with a significant additional burden, said, "On the one hand, financing costs have increased a lot, and on the other hand, access to financing has become difficult." Avdagiç stated that the excessive appreciation of the Turkish lira has put pressure on producers and exporters, while making importers happy, and said, "When you look, we see that last year, while the approximate appreciation of foreign exchange remained at 18-19 percent, inflation was at 45 percent and wage increases were at 50 percent. Therefore, the business world had to struggle with a gap of 30 percent, 35 percent in one year. It is not easy to carry out a process where the gap between foreign exchange prices and inflation has widened to such a high level in a year anywhere in the world." "SECTORAL SUB-BREAKDOWNS SHOULD BE EXAMINED" Şekib Avdagiç, who stated that they, as the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, look at the growth figures by considering two issues, noted the following: "One is the effect of 'investments' on growth, and the second is the effect of 'exports' on growth. We see that both figures are negative. Therefore, these are two data that should provide serious warnings for the upcoming period. In this sense, we definitely need to continue to implement a policy that will increase production and keep the country's competitiveness at a reasonable level." İTO President Avdagiç underlined that although there was a limited increase in exports, there was a contraction in some important sectors, especially starting from labor-intensive sectors, when subgroups were examined. Stating that Turkey's export increase and cumulative increase rates in certain sectors should be analyzed well, Avdagiç continued as follows: "It is absolutely necessary to examine sectoral sub-fractions and make this assessment accordingly. Exports of two-thirds of sectors in Turkey have decreased. Turkey has become a financially expensive country. Our ability to invest is declining. Our figures and costs in the country are higher than many of our competitors. When you bring all these together, it becomes difficult to make sustainable exports. We have 3 basic suggestions for this. Financing costs should be pulled down in the short term. New initiatives should be made regarding access to financing. The correlation between exchange rate and inflation should be maintained. We have the power to overcome all problems. As long as we quickly put into effect a policy set that will pull Turkey's investment capacity upwards and gradually eliminate the problems we experience in exports." "THERE IS A DOWNWARD TREND IN HIGH TECHNOLOGY" Şekib Avdagiç, who stated that the size of the "Advance Credit with Investment Commitment" program for medium-high and high technology investments was increased to 500 billion liras was a very important and valuable decision, noted the following: "We expect this to be implemented very quickly. As you know, the interest rates here vary between 15 percent and 30 percent depending on certain criteria. It is important to make some evaluations in favor of the investor as much as possible here and to provide this credit to companies that commit to this investment with reasonable financing packages. It is very important to bring the incentives in this package together with the potential investor very quickly and effectively. When we look at the share of Turkey's high technology product exports in total exports, we see that these rates have entered a downward trend for the last two years. Therefore, this credit package is very valuable. We definitely need to increase the investors of medium-high and high technology products, we need to increase our production capacity here and Turkey's total we need to increase the percentage of these products in our exports. Moreover, we need to do this in the short and medium term." "TURKEY MUST MAINTAIN ITS CONTINUOUS AND EFFECTIVE PRESENCE IN SYRIA" İTO President Avdagiç emphasized that Turkey must definitely and continuously increase its exports faster than its imports and said, "It must remove its 150-year bad history and the difficulties it has been experiencing from the table and reach a point where the total of its goods and services exports will be equal to its imports of goods and services. We are seeing clear signs of a period in which Turkey's imports have become attractive and its exports have become difficult. Taking this de facto situation into consideration, we think that approaches that will pave the way for exporters to export both goods and services should be quickly put into effect." Avdagiç underlined that the upcoming period should be planned carefully and said, “In this sense, the regional risks that Türkiye has been experiencing recently, namely the massacre that Israel has been carrying out against Gaza for the last two years in the south and the aggressive process that Israel has started against Iran, the Russia-Ukraine conflict that has been going on for three years in our north… Within all of these, I think that in order for Türkiye to preserve its stable structure economically, the expectations of the business world should definitely be taken into consideration more than ever.” Emphasizing that Turkey should continue its continuous and effective proactive stance in Syria, Avdagiç said, “It is very important for Türkiye to be Syria’s biggest solution partner not only politically but also economically as it gets back on its feet, and for this to be constantly supported, policies to be updated, and impact analyses to be reviewed. We need to be extremely proactive in this regard as the state and all institutions.” "THE NEW TERM WILL BE OUR MASTERY PERIOD" Şekib Avdagiç stated that they have established a consultation mechanism that they have attached great importance to since the period they started working at the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, and announced that he will be a candidate for the İTO presidency again in the chamber elections expected to be held in October 2026. Avdagiç said, "Before the decision phase regarding the next term, we made the necessary evaluations with the institutions and relevant individuals whose consultation we value. A consensus has emerged regarding our candidacy for this position for another term. We are also sharing our candidacy with the public. The İTO election is an election conducted through democratic processes. I hope that in the upcoming period, as it has been until today, it will complete its processes in accordance with democratic practices and within the framework set forth by the legislation, and a new term will be formed. The new term will be our mastery period together with our staff."