Announcing the results of his organization's first Exporters' Tendency Survey for the year 2012 in İstanbul on Friday, he said Turkish businesses selling their goods to overseas markets are very positive about their performance this year. According to the survey results, in which 520 exporters took part, Turkey's unemployment rate is likely to drop by nearly one percentage point thanks to exporters' business activity in the country alone.
Turkey clinched a record-high export volume of $135 billion last year, exporting nearly 20 percent more than what it did a year earlier. Automobiles, petrochemicals, metals and textile products rank among the country's main exports. Its largest exports market is Germany, followed by Iraq, Italy, the United Kingdom and France.
Its export volume was recorded at $99 billion in 2009, when its economy was hit hard by the global financial crisis that was triggered by the credit crunch in the US. The figures, therefore, indicate that Turkey managed to increase the amount of goods it sells to overseas by 35 percent in just two years. During that time period, the country also made strides in its fight against unemployment. The proportion of those without a job in the Turkish labor force dropped from over 15 percent to 9.1 percent in October of last year, according to latest official figures.
7.3 pct economic growth for 2012?
TİM's survey also showed that exporters predict a 7.3 percent economic growth for Turkey, meaning a continuation of the last two years' swift gross domestic product (GDP) expansion. The Turkish economy grew by some 9 percent in 2010 and another 9.6 percent in the first three quarters of 2011. The figure for the latest quarter last year has yet to be announced, but most indicators point to an economic growth of no less than 8 percent. According to Büyükekşi, this is likely to be 8.3 percent.
For 2012, however, the government predicts a 4 percent economic growth whereas some international observers, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, go with lower estimates. The exporters' 7.3 percent might, therefore, be seen as a long shot, yet Büyükekşi says their forecast for 2011 was almost accurate. His organization's members predicted 8.6 percent economic growth for last year. “So let's not overlook what the exporters think is right here,” he said.
Investment subsidies to compete with China, India
As part of his remarks on Friday, Büyükekşi also said that if the government establishes a special investment and production zone as well as introduces a new set of investment incentives for exporters to do business there, it would allow them compete with China and India, two of the world's fastest growing economies where businesses benefit from low labor costs as well as various kinds of government support. “This would be a big step for export-led economic growth,” he said, urging the exporters to take advantage of what he called the very enticing loan opportunities the government offers via Eximbank for businesses engaged in foreign trade.
In the first quarter of 2012, Russia takes the lead among the countries Turkish exporters plan to venture into, according to the survey, followed by the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and China.
