Press release…
Jak Eskinazi, Coordinator President of the Aegean Exporters’ Associations (EIB), described the exports of 42.6 billion dollars from the Aegean Region as a great success in 2023, when the recession in the world economies and the high inflation and low exchange rate spiral in the Turkish economy.
Eskinazi stated that if there is a favourable climate for exports, the exports of the Aegean Region can easily exceed 50 billion dollars.
Emphasizing that exports from the Aegean Region in 2022 were 44.5 billion dollars, Eskinazi said, “Our Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek, indicated that ‘The main determinant of exports is foreign demand and the exchange rate does not have a significant effect’, but our labour-intensive sectors have reached the point where we cannot respond to the demands around the world. If Türkiye wants to eliminate the inequality in income distribution, it has to produce and ramp up its exports. Today, the wealthiest 20 per cent of our country’s income has become 50 per cent. There is no middle pole left and a large part of our population is rapidly becoming poorer. In order to stop impoverishment, we need to increase the number of exporters, the amount of exports and the average export price.”
Underlining that they direct the exports of the Aegean Region with their projects, Eskinazi added, “In 2024, we aim to bring our exporters together with more importers with sectoral TURQUALITY Projects, URGE (Project of Enhancing International Competitiveness) Projects, Fairs, Sectoral Trade Delegations, Buyer Delegations. Sustainability, innovation, design, R&D, vocational training will be other topics we will focus on. Türkiye aims to export 302.2 billion dollars by the end of 2026 in the Medium Term Programme. As the Aegean Region, we aim to contribute 52 billion dollars to this target.”