Minister of Commerce Mehmet Mus said, “The services sector is the apple of the eye of the Turkish economy, with its features of providing net foreign currency inflow and being an employment store, as well as making a positive contribution to the export of goods with the multiplier effect it creates.”
According to the statement made by the Service Exporters’ Association (HIB), the union announced the export champions of the sector for 2020. 51 companies in the top three in 17 categories consisting of sub-sectors within the body of HIB received their plaques for their success.
In the statement, Minister of Commerce Mehmet Mus, who gave a written message to the ceremony held on the subject, stated that they achieved record success in exports day by day.
Mentioning the contribution of service exports to the country’s economy, Mus said, “The services sector is the apple of the eye of the Turkish economy, with its features of providing net foreign currency inflow and being an employment store, as well as making a positive contribution to the export of goods with the multiplier effect it creates.”
Noting that the current investments in almost all sub-sectors, from tourism to logistics, from health to TV series-films, from education to software, are sufficient to reach the targeted export figures, Mus used the following statements:
“The only thing left to do is to analyze the services sector well and to implement the necessary steps quickly. We have done what is necessary for the establishment of the Service Exporters’ Association and the General Secretariat of the Union, as well as the establishment of the General Directorate of International Service Trade within our Ministry of Commerce, in order to take these steps quickly. I hope that our services sector, which is one of the sectors most affected by Covid-19, will continue to recover rapidly and will go far beyond the figures in 2019 when it broke records.”
“THE SERVICE SECTOR IS THE LEADING SECTOR OF DEVELOPED ECONOMIES”
Ismail Gulle, Chairman of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), stated that the leading sector of developed economies is the services sector.
Gulle said, “Today, the service sector has become the fastest-growing sector of the economy of many countries and has a share of more than 50% of the GDP in these countries. As a matter of fact, the service sector constitutes two-thirds of the national income in our country.”
Noting that service exports are of strategic importance for Turkey to have an economy with a current account surplus, Gulle said, “Our companies operating in the service sector, by employing 15 million citizens, reveal the dynamic and qualified manpower potential of our country with their successes.”
“Despite COVID-19, we managed to increase our exports to $46.2 billion”
HIB President Ilker Ayci congratulated the 2020 Service Export Champions with their performance.
Noting that they have increased the number of members to over 2,000 in a short time despite being the youngest exporters’ union in Turkey, Ayci said, “Despite the devastating conditions of the Covid-19 outbreak, we managed to increase our exports to the level of $46.2 billion. Our industry has also signed a foreign trade surplus of over $21 billion this year.”
Ayci explained that thanks to the Turkish series that meet with 700 million viewers daily in more than 170 countries around the world, there has been an increase in both the number of foreign tourists and the interest and demand for Turkish products.
Mentioning the touristic visits he made after the foreigners studying in Turkey and that he introduced Turkey in his country in the best way, Ayci said, “Thanks to the successes our services sector has achieved and the transformations to be planned, it will evolve into a global brand and constitute a strong source for full economic independence, and we will reach our target of $150 billion export in the short term.”
“WE PERFORMED A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF ALL SECTORS”
TIM Service Sector Council President Ahmet Akbalik stated that service exports not only have a direct effect on closing the current account deficit, but also contribute to the total added value with its indirect effect on goods exports.
Congratulating the award-winning exporters for their success, Akbalik mentioned that they made detailed analyzes in all sub-categories of the services sector.
Akbalik said, “Thanks to this research, we have achieved results such as the current positions of all our sectors, the strategies of our competitors, our target markets and how we should position them. In line with these results, we started to hold strategy meetings with our sector representatives and we will draw the roadmaps of all our sectors.”
In the event, 51 companies that ranked in the top three in 17 categories received plaques. Despite the epidemic, companies that enabled the sector to export close to $35 billion and foreign trade surplus of $11.5 billion with their successful performance in 2020 were awarded.
Source: Sabah / Translated by Irem Yildiz