Azernews.Az

By News Center/Mesude Demirhan

Turkey has declared 2022 the year of investment, Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (MUSIAD) Chairman Mahmut Asmali has said.

He made the remarks during a press conference about new projects and economic developments in the country.

Economic investment projects

Asmali noted that the association will invest 25 billion liras ($1.8bn) in production and investment projects by late 2022.

“In the first stage, we implemented investment projects worth 7.6 billion TL ($560 million) in Samsun, approximately 4 billion TL ($300 million) in Adana, 1.6 billion TL ($120 million) in İzmir and 660 million TL ($50 million) in Sakarya. We will further expand the scope of this trust movement. We think that the investment amount in question will reach 25 billion TL ($1.8 billion) within the year. It will also make a significant contribution to the labor market. We aim to create up to 25,000 additional workplaces in the first phase,” Asmali underlined.

The Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (MUSIAD) continues its investments within the scope of the "Anatolian Production and Investment Movement" to support Turkey's export-oriented new economy model, he added.

Describing the "Anatolian Production and Investment Movement" as a movement of trust, Asmali emphasized that they trust the manufacturers of Anatolia, who are ready for competition and entering global markets. In this context, Asmali stated that they will bring dynamism to the export-oriented production mechanism with the investments to be made in 40 provinces, including big cities.

Asmali said that they encourage their members to invest in Anatolia, where labor and rents are more affordable and more comfortable personnel can be found.

The MUSIAD chief stated that its members will realize investments in Adana, Afyonkarahisar, Balikesir, Canakkale, Duzce, Mersin, Samsun, Karabuk, Izmir, and Kayseri in 2022, emphasizing their desire to provide reverse migration while encouraging investment in Anatolia.

"Our aim is to organize and coordinate these investment networks in 81 provinces. These investments will be in almost all sectors such as food, automotive, textile, metal, packaging, energy and construction. We are especially working on the production of products that will replace imports. At this point, we aim to bring our members together and make investments," he emphasized.

Asmali said that inflation is a major issue right now and that it should be addressed as soon as possible.

"Even at its current level, the exchange rate is quite high. When compared to other countries' inflation figures and adjusted levels, the exchange rate is now at its highest level, even compared to the 1990s. Therefore, we believe the rate should be slightly lower at the moment. The first wish of our industry, however, was to put an end to the volatility of the exchange rate. At the very least, this was accomplished through the use of a currency-protected TL deposit account. This situation is satisfactory to industrialists. However, we do not believe it is appropriate for the exchange rate to fall to an incentive level for imports. It should be lowered in level. Levels of 11-12 TL [$.081-089] may be a more appropriate level. But as I said, the absence of volatility is essential for us," Asmali stressed.

Expressing that TL deposits are starting to stay in banks for a longer period of time with the exchange-protected account, Asmali added: "It was normally 40-45 days. There will be deposits that will stay from three to six months for the first time."

In response to MUSIAD members' interest in this practice, Asmali said: “We don't have a number on this issue. However, we transferred the money in gold and some foreign currencies to Turkish liras. It is a very advantageous application. All of our industrialists, businessmen and citizens should take advantage of this opportunity given by our state.”

He added that they organized a meeting with wide participation in Frankfurt for the call to YUVAM (Foreign Residents Deposit and Participation) accounts and that they expect great interest from expatriates and the business world abroad.

"With the participation of more than 40 foreign branch presidents, we held an online meeting with our CBRT [Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey] President [Sahap Kavcioglu]. The CBRT President explained the YUVAM account in detail there. We held a large meeting yesterday, hosted by our Frankfurt branch, with the participation of Turkish businesspeople in Europe. I am confident that our expatriates and businessmen, particularly our MUSIAD members living abroad, will support this call," he said.

Asmali proposed that the six-month minimum maturity for legal persons' investments in exchange-protected accounts be reduced to three months, as it is for individuals.

Asmali, who was dissatisfied with the high-interest rate, demanded of the banks: "We were voicing this point while opposing the interest rate and supporting the reduction. The industrialists and investors in our country need to expand their businesses in order to produce, and at this point, access to cost-effective financing should be easy. While our competitors in Europe have loan rates of 1-2 percent, we have 30-32 percent rates for the real sector. This is one of the biggest obstacles to the investment of our industrialists. It must be pulled down."

In terms of state subsidies in the energy sector, Asmali emphasized that they are advocating for a subsidy that will reduce the impact of electricity prices on SMEs and households.

"We believe that electricity prices should be reduced further," he added.

International trade cooperation

Asmali stated the MUSIAD Trade Office and the Gulf Businessmen Liaison Office within the framework of the 7-point strategy plan have been established.

He added that the plan aims to create new partnerships in export-oriented trade by making reports on the promotion of investment areas and the development of production fields.

"With these units, we aim to create a working environment that supports regional development by bringing investors from the Gulf region together with our business people," he said.

Talking about the Anatolian Economic Diplomacy programs they carried out in Corum and Kayseri under commercial diplomacy, Asmali said that they aimed to make a serious contribution to regional development by inviting foreign mission representatives in Turkey, especially ambassadors.

In this context, Asmali stressed that they will continue to bring together ambassadors and business people by spreading the Anatolian Economy Diplomacy program throughout the country within the framework of the Investment Year.

Asmali said that they will create a trade network that will unite the continents with the MUSIAD Expo 2022 Trade Fair, which has been redesigned.

"We aim to touch regional dynamics by moving our Turkish-Arab Business Summit out of Istanbul within this scope. Organizations such as the Turkish-Arab Business Summit to be held in Gaziantep on May 27-29 and MUSIAD Expo 2022 to be held on November 2-5 will be organized within the framework of this mission. It will provide added value to our country and accelerate the process of commissioning new investment projections," he stressed.

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