Chairman of MUSİAD

Your Excellencies,

Esteemed Representatives of the Embassies,

Ladies, Gentlemen,

I would like to thank the Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association - MÜSİAD - for hosting this event.

It is a pleasure to meet with the Dutch business community.

Business people gathered here tonight includes representatives from different origins and backgrounds.

I believe this is a very good opportunity to exchange views on economic and commercial relations on a very broad and international scale.

It is also a good opportunity for cooperation among a wide range of sectors.

Our priorities are obviously to boost economic contacts. Given the willingness of both Turkish and Dutch business circles to improve relations, it seems that there is huge potential to proceed in positive direction.

I believe that concrete steps will be taken towards this goal with contacts to be held tonight.

Distinguished Participants,

World economy is facing great challenges.

The pandemic has threatened the global economy to a great extent.

Supply chains have been disrupted and fluctuations in commodity and finished goods prices affected all businesses.

Geopolitical risks, political tensions and energy problems aggravated the effects of ongoing negative supply shocks and increased the uncertainties.

Naturally, all these developments point to difficult times in international trade.

We have been witnessing increasing protectionist trade policies.

The structural problems of the multilateral trading system become more evident in difficult times.

We do not know what this decade will witness further.

In these times, increasing economic resilience seems is crucial.

For this reason, cooperation is key to increase mutual trade and investments.

Türkiye's economic performance during the pandemic proved that its diversified economy is robust and resilient.

For the year 2020 the annual growth rate was realised as 1.8 % despite the negative effects of Covid-19.

Turkish economy became one of the few economies that managed to achieve growth amongst both OECD and G-20 countries throughout the year.

Turkish economy expanded by 11% in 2021 and 5.6% in 2022.

We continue to increase our exports significantly.

Our domestic consumption supports our growth.

Our industrial production is increasing its capacity and output with new investments in many different sectors.

With its geostrategic location, manufacturing capabilities, young and dynamic population, and developed logistics infrastructure, Türkiye has become a regional powerhouse where manufacturing activities of multinationals.

Multinational companies positions the design teams, R&D centres, purchasing offices, logistics centres and regional management centres of global companies in our country.

Today, almost 80,000 international companies operate in Türkiye.

The Dutch economy also demonstrated its resilience against the pandemic and the negative following affects.

Thus, economy grow by 4,9% in 2021 and 4.5% in 2022.

It is a prominent partner in international cooperation with its geographical location, advanced infrastructure, educated and multilingual human resources and established international business climate.

It has a suitable environment for projects with high added value in foreign trade, services, innovative technologies and many fields that I have not mentioned.

My sincere wish is that business people make the best use of the opportunities both in the country where they live, they do business and in the countries with which they have historical ties.

The business people here today have a privileged position in contributing to the economy of both countries by addressing trade and investment opportunities in Türkiye and the Netherlands.

You know business cultures of both the Netherlands and your country. You follow the economic and commercial activities in both countries. You have connections in both countries. You can see potential business areas and opportunities. Many of you speak Dutch. I think that all of these put you one step ahead in establishing mutually beneficial cooperation in the economic field.

I would like to take this opportunity to hope that the meetings that will be held tonight will be beneficial in that sense.

In this respect, I would like to thank again MUSIAD and its esteemed Chairman for organizing this evening.

Thank you.