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Saithan

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Turkey earmarks new generation free trade deals to rev up exports​

BY DAILY SABAH WITH AA​

ISTANBUL ECONOMY
AUG 18, 2021 1:26 PM GMT+3
Container ships sail through the Bosporus in Istanbul, Turkey, June 23, 2021. (Shutterstock Photo)
Container ships sail through the Bosporus in Istanbul, Turkey, June 23, 2021. (Shutterstock Photo)



Turkey is building a new generation of comprehensive free trade agreements (FTAs) to lift exports, strengthen the competitiveness of the industry and attract foreign capital, according to the nation’s trade minister.

“Comprehensive FTA negotiations are currently ongoing with Japan, Thailand and Indonesia in the Asia-Pacific region,” Mehmet Muş told a closing session of the 34th Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) Ordinary Financial General Assembly.

These agreements will include services, investments and public procurement, Muş said Tuesday.

“While negotiations with Georgia and Moldova continue to expand the scope of FTAs, we continue negotiations with Ukraine, making efforts to reach a result,” the minister added.

On the other hand, he added, in Latin America, opportunities for pacts with Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico have been continuing.

The government has also ramped up efforts to further develop cooperation with the U.S. and China.

Turkey’s 12-month rolling exports exceeded the long-awaited threshold of $200 billion for the first time in July, exceeding both the 2021-end target of $184 billion and the $198 billion target set for 2022.

The January-July sales came in at $121.4 billion, marking a 35% rise from a year ago and a 16.4% increase from the seven-month figure of 2019 before the pandemic hit.

The outbreak led to a 6.26% drop in 2020 exports as Turkey closed the year with $169.5 billion in foreign sales.

Imports were up 4.3% to reach $219.4 billion. The foreign trade gap widened by 69.12% to $49.9 billion.

Leveling up sales to distant countries

Muş said the government has been preparing a strategy to increase exports to faraway countries, “in order to bring the geographies we call distant closer and to evaluate the commercial and economic potential of these geographies.”

He said two-thirds of Turkey’s exports are to countries with an average distance of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles), adding Turkey can only get a 0.26% share from the $8.2 trillion worth of imports from 17 countries far from its soil.

“We will consult with our businesspeople when it reaches a certain point, aiming to quadruple our exports to 17 countries with an average distance of 8,650 kilometers (5,375 miles).”

 

Lool

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Turkey earmarks new generation free trade deals to rev up exports​

BY DAILY SABAH WITH AA​

ISTANBUL ECONOMY
AUG 18, 2021 1:26 PM GMT+3
Container ships sail through the Bosporus in Istanbul, Turkey, June 23, 2021. (Shutterstock Photo)
Container ships sail through the Bosporus in Istanbul, Turkey, June 23, 2021. (Shutterstock Photo)



Turkey is building a new generation of comprehensive free trade agreements (FTAs) to lift exports, strengthen the competitiveness of the industry and attract foreign capital, according to the nation’s trade minister.

“Comprehensive FTA negotiations are currently ongoing with Japan, Thailand and Indonesia in the Asia-Pacific region,” Mehmet Muş told a closing session of the 34th Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) Ordinary Financial General Assembly.

These agreements will include services, investments and public procurement, Muş said Tuesday.

“While negotiations with Georgia and Moldova continue to expand the scope of FTAs, we continue negotiations with Ukraine, making efforts to reach a result,” the minister added.

On the other hand, he added, in Latin America, opportunities for pacts with Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico have been continuing.

The government has also ramped up efforts to further develop cooperation with the U.S. and China.

Turkey’s 12-month rolling exports exceeded the long-awaited threshold of $200 billion for the first time in July, exceeding both the 2021-end target of $184 billion and the $198 billion target set for 2022.

The January-July sales came in at $121.4 billion, marking a 35% rise from a year ago and a 16.4% increase from the seven-month figure of 2019 before the pandemic hit.

The outbreak led to a 6.26% drop in 2020 exports as Turkey closed the year with $169.5 billion in foreign sales.

Imports were up 4.3% to reach $219.4 billion. The foreign trade gap widened by 69.12% to $49.9 billion.

Leveling up sales to distant countries

Muş said the government has been preparing a strategy to increase exports to faraway countries, “in order to bring the geographies we call distant closer and to evaluate the commercial and economic potential of these geographies.”

He said two-thirds of Turkey’s exports are to countries with an average distance of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles), adding Turkey can only get a 0.26% share from the $8.2 trillion worth of imports from 17 countries far from its soil.

“We will consult with our businesspeople when it reaches a certain point, aiming to quadruple our exports to 17 countries with an average distance of 8,650 kilometers (5,375 miles).”

Iam not sure about what Iam about to say.....
I keep hearing rumors here and there that a lot of the current economic policies implemented by the AKP resembles China's policy in their early days. Apparently, during their early years, the communist party depended on extreme exports as a source of foreign currency. In fact, many say that the idea of turkey breaking the 2021 and 2022 export figures at once is thanks to that. Others say that the Chinese wasnt happy with Agbal's policy as he didnt give priority to the reserves at all

Again, all of these are rumors and are probably 70% false
I just thought about hearing the opinions of the ppl in this forum
 

Lool

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1. Creating jobs
2. Giving University graduates a perspective
And a source of revenue as more dollars enter the country which reduces the trade gap.
In fact some also say that the low lira may help Turkey if they wanna take a loan from the IMF. Now that the lira is low, a loan of 2 billion dollars can cover all Turkey's expenses and will be easy for Turkey to repay whenever they want. If the lira is high, in order to cover the ~30 billion liras deficit during the pandemic, a loan of ~12 billion dollars are required which will be accompanied by a greater interest rate, more restrictions and will be harder to repay

Again, all of these are rumors. Some may be completely wrong
 

Saithan

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Iam not sure about what Iam about to say.....
I keep hearing rumors here and there that a lot of the current economic policies implemented by the AKP resembles China's policy in their early days. Apparently, during their early years, the communist party depended on extreme exports as a source of foreign currency. In fact, many say that the idea of turkey breaking the 2021 and 2022 export figures at once is thanks to that. Others say that the Chinese wasnt happy with Agbal's policy as he didnt give priority to the reserves at all

Again, all of these are rumors and are probably 70% false
I just thought about hearing the opinions of the ppl in this forum

1. Creating jobs
2. Giving University graduates a perspective

And a source of revenue as more dollars enter the country which reduces the trade gap.
In fact some also say that the low lira may help Turkey if they wanna take a loan from the IMF. Now that the lira is low, a loan of 2 billion dollars can cover all Turkey's expenses and will be easy for Turkey to repay whenever they want. If the lira is high, in order to cover the ~30 billion liras deficit during the pandemic, a loan of ~12 billion dollars are required which will be accompanied by a greater interest rate, more restrictions and will be harder to repay

Again, all of these are rumors. Some may be completely wrong
Those are just potential outlooks. Since they're not established it's BS. RTE also says that UAE "may" make a big investment in Turkey, but I call that BS. it's to bribe RTE and AKP and get something out of it in return.

And yes I have also been thinking that AKP may have implemented some Chinese strategy as well. Mind you a very big part of China's population are very poor, and a middle class that IMO is probably smaller than it should have been, and upper end that is rich, not filthy rich, but enough to brag to rest of the world.

Alibaba's founder was probably too rich for the Chinese government.
 

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Those are just potential outlooks. Since they're not established it's BS. RTE also says that UAE "may" make a big investment in Turkey, but I call that BS. it's to bribe RTE and AKP and get something out of it in return.
It depends on how much the UAE has to pay, on what they will pay on, and whether the UAE will repect Turkey's rights in the Meditteranean. Then, some compromise from Turkey side LIKE POWER-SHARING in libya is inevitable but at least Turkey will gain more legitimacy for their Blue Homeland...... this is the optimal solution IMO
And yes I have also been thinking that AKP may have implemented some Chinese strategy as well. Mind you a very big part of China's population are very poor, and a middle class that IMO is probably smaller than it should have been, and upper end that is rich, not filthy rich, but enough to brag to rest of the world.
About that idk tbh, i do know that the general population love the current chinese policy by a wide margin. Maybe it may turn like that for Turkey once they initiate a nationalisation policy and reducing the imports of basic needs into the country...... I mean the lira was set to go below 8.4 this week but a sudden rise in oil prices drove it back 8.53 sadly
Alibaba's founder was probably too rich for the Chinese government.
No, Alibaba's founder being too rich wasnt the problem...... he actually did criticise the government policies on a certain matter. I honestly dont remember what it was
 

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Is it true that Turkish cabin crew left their passports and ID in the airplane and immigrate to Canada two days ago ? SHAME ON THEM IF THIS IS TRUE. I thoughts Turks doesn't have this mentality and they respect their country
 

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Is it true that Turkish cabin crew left their passports and ID in the airplane and immigrate to Canada two days ago ? SHAME ON THEM IF THIS IS TRUE. I thoughts Turks doesn't have this attitude and they respect their country
Who knows, but since economy is king, and even municipality employed people used the grey pasport to get to EU and start working in grocery stores to save up money until they get thrown back to Turkey.

I would assume that people are willing to gamble.

I would say shame on the government for bringing the economy to this point.
 

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Who knows, but since economy is king, and even municipality employed people used the grey pasport to get to EU and start working in grocery stores to save up money until they get thrown back to Turkey.

I would assume that people are willing to gamble.

I would say shame on the government for bringing the economy to this point.
Yeah, I know Erdo and his government who should blame first. However, this is the first time I realized Turks has this mentality, throw everything and find a way to escape. Economic crisis will happen again and again, and what they did is shameful
 
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Saithan

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Yeah, I know Erdo and his government are who should blame first. However, this is the first time I realized Turks has this mentality, throw everything and find a way to escape. Economic crisis will happen again and again, and what they did is shameful
Yes it is shameful, and while I grit my teeth at this. I'm still holding the government responsible for this.
 

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Who knows, but since economy is king, and even municipality employed people used the grey pasport to get to EU and start working in grocery stores to save up money until they get thrown back to Turkey.

I would assume that people are willing to gamble.

I would say shame on the government for bringing the economy to this point.
Sadly it is the truth
No matter which path the government takes, Turkey would have either way been screwed up from the pandemic

Turkey as a country mainly depends on Tourism and Exports as a source of revenue
With the beginning of the pandemic, the number of tourists got reduced significantly moreover many countries went into lockdown which reduced demand on turkish exports. Turkey then had 2 paths to take

1- keep the lira value stable at 5 to a dollar by increasing the interest rates which will ensure the people can still eat and live but will reduce growth, increases unemployment rates, and will literally destroy future generations as those who will be recently fired (due to reduced export demand) will compete with the new generation for limited number of job spaces next year. Turkey will be something like Tunisia in a sense

2- devaluate the lira to keep growth, export, demand and job production steady which will at least ensure that the future generations wont be unemployed and will have easy access to jobs; thus, will be able to feed themselves but it will increase inflation and make it harder for ppl to pay for stuff thus reducing the standard of living which screwes the ppl again

Both methods have a bad ending; while the government chose the second option, I believe that the first option was more appropriate
Covid really screwed Turkey the most
 
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Saithan

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Sadly it is the truth
No matter which path the government takes, Turkey would have either way been screwed up from the pandemic

Turkey as a country mainly depends on Tourism and Exports as a source of revenue
With the beginning of the pandemic, the number of tourists got reduced significantly moreover many countries went into lockdown which reduced demand on turkish exports. Turkey then had 2 paths to take

1- keep the lira value stable at 5 to a dollar by increasing the interest rates which will ensure the people can still eat and live but will reduce growth, increases unemployment rates, and will literally destroy future generations as those who will be recently fired (due to reduced export demand) will compete with the new generation for limited number of job spaces next year. Turkey will be something like Tunisia in a sense

2- devaluate the lira to keep growth, export, demand and job production steady but it will increase inflation and make it harder for ppl to pay for stuff thus reducing the standard of living which screwes the ppl again

Both methods have a bad ending; while the government chose the second option, I believe that the first option was more appropriate
Covid really screwed Turkey the most
This governement isn't going to do anything to solve the issue. Talking about solutions with this governement and RTE at the rudder is useless.

RTE is out talking about potential big investment from UAE. Guess who else is on UAE payroll, Egypt.
 

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This governement isn't going to do anything to solve the issue. Talking about solutions with this governement and RTE at the rudder is useless.

RTE is out talking about potential big investment from UAE. Guess who else is on UAE payroll, Egypt.
Yeah
Tbh Iam against UAE friendship unless certain agendas are brought into place
1- Stop siding with Greece in the Meditteranean issue
2- force Egypt to sign the EEZ agreement with Turkey
3- Stop media manipulation against Turkey
4- Stop supporting pressure groups in the USA against Turkey

Ofcourse certain compromises from Turkey's side is a must as well
1- Something like powersharing in libya
2- Sharing of resources and influence over Africa
3- Providing cheap weapons to the UAE (which is beneficial to Turkey as well)
4- Sharing of influence in Asian countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan (Afghanistan is a resource rich country with around trillions worth of lithium and gold etc... Turkey can use its good relations with Taliban to take a part of the cake and give some to the UAE as well)


This ofcourse is my opinion IMO
 

Saithan

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Yeah
Tbh Iam against UAE friendship unless certain agendas are brought into place
1- Stop siding with Greece in the Meditteranean issue
2- force Egypt to sign the EEZ agreement with Turkey
3- Stop media manipulation against Turkey
4- Stop supporting pressure groups in the USA against Turkey

Ofcourse certain compromises from Turkey's side is a must as well
1- Something like powersharing in libya
2- Sharing of resources and influence over Africa
3- Providing cheap weapons to the UAE (which is beneficial to Turkey as well)
4- Sharing of influence in Asian countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan (Afghanistan is a resource rich country with around trillions worth of lithium and gold etc... Turkey can use its good relations with Taliban to take a part of the cake and give some to the UAE as well)


This ofcourse is my opinion IMO
Those are topics that aren't possible as they run counter to UAE interests. Our cooperation with Algeria and Libya would be jeopardized as well.

It's going to be interesting to see if RTE is willing to sacrifice Turkey's interests to get a chance to rule Turkey after 2023. (Someone might get angry at me for stating it that way).
 

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Those are topics that aren't possible as they run counter to UAE interests. Our cooperation with Algeria and Libya would be jeopardized as well.

It's going to be interesting to see if RTE is willing to sacrifice Turkey's interests to get a chance to rule Turkey after 2023. (Someone might get angry at me for stating it that way).
Cant say you are wrong in those statements
Lets see what happens in the future
I just really hope that Erdo doesnt fall from grace (as he is the only one I like in the AKP and the rest are scumbags tbh just like the other parties) since if he did sell his country's interests just to rule the country post 2023..... then I cant believe iam saying this.... but the CHP will be better since at least the ppl will be able to buy stuff

If Erdo wanna win, he ought to win by himself and not sacrificing the nation's interest. The nation is still functioning and while certain indicators are down, other indicators are going full throttle. He still has a year and if he fixed what Turkey lacks, he can win by his own hardwork and not by selling the people
 

Saithan

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Cant say you are wrong in those statements
Lets see what happens in the future
I just really hope that Erdo doesnt fall from grace (as he is the only one I like in the AKP and the rest are scumbags tbh just like the other parties) since if he did sell his country's interests just to rule the country post 2023..... then I cant believe iam saying this.... but the CHP will be better since at least the ppl will be able to buy stuff

If Erdo wanna win, he ought to win by himself and not sacrificing the nation's interest. The nation is still functioning and while certain indicators are down, other indicators are going full throttle. He still has a year and if he fixed what Turkey lacks, he can win by his own hardwork and not by selling the people
Power sharing. Coalition.

Presidential system was not needed even if it makes decision taking quicker. Quick decisions aren't always the right decision.

Turkish Parliament has never failed to support each other during national crises.

Only reason IMO for presidential system was to push forward the development projects as RTE wanted. It even resulted in the responsibility, mentality, cooperation becoming handicapped.

When you destroy something rebuilding it takes twice as long time. So no RTE and AKP are no longer capable of cooperating with other political parties, thus a change is needed for the Economy to rebound.
 

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