Azernews.Az

By Ibrahim Acar

Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) Chairman Nail Olpak has said the country aims to increase its share in the transit trade pie, Yeni Shafak newspaper has reported.

"We began collaborating with our Trade Ministry. We continue our negotiations to show Turkey as an address for companies in transit trade," Olpak said, adding that he had met with the Treasury and Finance Ministry as part of the process.

Olpak, in explaining the significance of the issue, stated that Turkey is working to increase its attractiveness in transit trade, which has a global value in the trillions of dollars.

Elaborating on the issue, the DEIK President drew attention to the details of the study.

“Let's imagine that we buy a product from abroad and sell it to another country. In other words, the product is sold from one country to another, with the organization of a Turkish company, without ever physically coming to Turkey,” Olpak said.

He went on to say that in many countries around the world, companies doing business in the transit trade are given additional tax advantages, such as lower corporate taxes.

Olpak emphasized that similar measures should be implemented in Turkey in order to attract foreign investors and encourage them to establish businesses in the country.

"We see it as a critical step that will attract direct investors. This business model is used by a large number of people in our country. A person establishes a company in another country and manages his business from there. We believe that the steps that will be taken in this area will provide Turkey with significant additional benefits," Olpak stated.

He added that their organization will conduct specific studies to boost Turkey's competitiveness and positively change the perception of the Turkish business world abroad through strategic lobbying.

"We agreed with a key strategist to take our commercial diplomacy activities in Germany to the next level. We hope to collaborate with a group that will be extremely helpful to us in terms of lobbying in England. A similar work goal is pursued by our French Business Council. We will also be focusing on Russia, Japan, and India, and similar studies for these three countries are an important goal," he said.

Olpak stated that the organization is taking a new step in the United States that will strengthen the Turkish business lobby globally.

The DEIK president underlined the importance of regions (such as Africa) where Turkish banking is not present.

"Doing business in countries with a Turkish banking system is far more advantageous." In this context, we will propose to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance that our Turkish banks open branches in target countries and regions," he added.

Olpak, who described inflation as a global issue, predicted that the country would end 2022 with an average inflation rate of around 30 percent. However, he ruled out any significant contraction in production and a corresponding decrease in demand.

"It was very important not to disrupt the supply chain. As we did not break the supply chain, we reached 225 billion dollars in exports. We must make every effort to ensure that the wheels of production are not disrupted in any way. The increased investment in machinery and equipment is extremely valuable and demonstrates how high the demand is. We anticipate a significant increase in tourism," Olpak stated.

When it comes to interest rates and foreign currency, Olpak believes that the main issue is uncertainty.

"In an uncertain environment, our main expectation is to be predictable. We believe that there will be a significant shift toward currency-protected TL deposits in institutions. The flow of foreign currency in individual investments has ceased with the exchange-protected TL deposit model," he concluded.

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