Turkey’s Exports see record 50 percent increase in January (02.02.2008)

The Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TİM) released the January export figures yesterday at a press conference in Eskişehir, noting that the 12-month figures reached $109.2 billion -- the largest sum ever attained by Turkish exporters. Within the sectors, the largest monthly increase came in the export of live animal and fishery products, with 105.96 percent. This was followed by the export of dried fruit, which saw a 75.6 percent jump over January 2007. Vehicle sales came third with a 74.97 percent rise.

The industrial sector recorded $8.4 billion in sales to foreign countries last month. This sector's total exports over 12 months reached $94.67 billion. The export of vehicles brought in $2.15 billion, while the textile industry made $1.45 billion from sales abroad. Turkish exporters sold slightly more than $1 billion worth of chemical products in the same month. The only decline was experienced in the export of olives and olive products, which suffered a 15.76 percent decrease.

Germany was Turkey's largest customer once again, followed by Britain, Italy, France, Russia, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.

The export figures were announced at a press conference with the participation of Finance Minister Kemal Unakıtan, Foreign Trade Minister Kürşad Tüzmen and TİM President Oğuz Satıcı. In a speech at the meeting Unakıtan said the positive, ever-increasing export figures are boosting Turkey's morale. TİM holds a press conference to announce export figures in a different city every month, and the finance minister attended the conference for the first time since. In his speech Unakıtan said the city has to take some serious steps in diversifying investments and suggested establishing a manufacturing plant for LCD monitors. He also praised the performance of Turkish exporters, noting that they had achieved high figures despite having to face an overvalued lira and extremely narrow profit margins. He said structural reforms will be completed in 2008 without making any concessions on fiscal discipline.

Satıcı, in his speech, complained about the input costs stemming from "high" insurance premiums. "Since we are not able to endure these costs with our lack of financial resources, we are being forced to make cuts in the labor force," he stated.

Today’s Zaman, Eskişehir