5th Independent Industrialists Meeting
27 June 2024
Esteemed MÜSİAD Family, dear friends,
I greet you all with respect and affection.
Welcome, all of you, to the “5th Independent Industrialists Meeting”, organized under the coordination of our MÜSİAD Industrial Production and Policies Commission; you have brought joy with you…
We are holding these valuable meetings of ours for the fifth time, and at the end of each meeting we obtain important outcomes. For this reason, I am already certain that it will be a very productive meeting. God willing, with the knowledge we will gain here through consultation, we will better determine our road map for the period ahead; I believe this.
Most Esteemed Members of MÜSİAD,
We have come together in order to bring together the pioneers and the visionary leaders of the industrial sector who are MÜSİAD members, and to increase strategic thinking and cooperation regarding the future. At the “Independent Industrialists Meeting”, which we are holding for the fifth time, we plan to share our accumulated knowledge and our sectoral experience and thus to benefit from one another's valuable experiences. Yet an important aspect of our coming together also carries the aim of discussing new business opportunities together and sharing new possibilities.
Because we, as individual members of the MÜSİAD family, are taking important steps and making investments in order to raise Türkiye's industry, its economy and its level of prosperity to higher levels. God willing, in the period ahead too we will continue these investments, which contribute to the future of our country and our people, once again thanks to our country's high potential.
God willing, while we carry on MÜSİAD's cause of civilization, God will also grant us the means to contribute to our country and our nation, to make our future finer and to provide a better life for our young people and our children.
Most esteemed friends, esteemed MÜSİAD Family,
We had managed to obtain important outcomes from these meetings of ours, which we previously held four times. God willing, I believe that today's meeting will also serve as a road map for us.
God willing, in the coming days we will also promptly share a concise report containing the results of this meeting of ours.
Now, while the occasion allows, referring back to our previous meeting, I would like to give a brief reminder of what our priority topics were last year and what level of progress we have recorded on those topics.
The matters we gathered under the heading “the fundamental problems of industrialists” can be classified under 7 main topics:
1. The first of these is the difficulties in accessing finance… Our industrialists experience great difficulties in accessing finance because of factors such as high interest rates, collateral requirements and the tightening of bank lending policies. Naturally, this situation can limit the growth potential of our enterprises.
2. The second important issue is high exchange rates and raw material costs. Exchange rate fluctuations increase costs, particularly for industrial enterprises that use imported raw materials, and thereby reduce their competitive advantage. In addition, price fluctuations in international markets make raw material costs uncertain. Thanks to the strict fiscal discipline of recent times, we are pleased to see that this issue has improved somewhat.
3. The third matter is workforce problems. Our industrialists experience difficulty especially in finding qualified labour and suffer from a shortage of intermediate-level personnel. We hope that this will change gradually, if not overnight. As MÜSİAD, we too are striving to take important steps on this matter.
4. The fourth problem is environmental and social regulations. The complexity of environmental and social regulations makes it harder for enterprises to comply and to reach sustainability standards. Ultimately, these regulations too may adversely affect the competitiveness of our enterprises.
5. As the fifth subheading, the lack of technological infrastructure may be cited. Especially in certain industrial sectors, the lack of technological infrastructure may prevent enterprises from increasing their productivity and gaining competitive advantage. The difficulties experienced in the transition to digital transformation processes may also deepen this problem.
6. Our sixth topic is bureaucratic processes and uncertainties: Disruptions in bureaucratic processes and the uncertainties enterprises face can adversely affect planning and investment decisions. Consequently, difficulties may be experienced in taking quick decisions and ensuring flexibility. Thankfully, our senior bureaucrats are making every effort on this matter, but it would be very beneficial for steps to be taken in the period ahead so that the process functions more efficiently.
7. Finally, there are foreign trade and geopolitical risks. Türkiye's outward-oriented economy may cause it to face uncertainties in foreign trade and geopolitical risks. These factors may create an additional difficulty for exporting enterprises. Here too, important roles fall to our bureaucracy. As for us, as business people, we strive to support them as far as we can with sound information.
At the meeting we held last year, many topics were addressed and many matters that constitute an obstacle for business people and investors were put on the table. I have tried to convey to you in broad outline the main outcomes of our 2023 meeting… God willing, this year too we will hold an extremely productive and fruitful meeting.
Esteemed MÜSİAD Family,
As business people and members of the trade, alongside lawful earnings we carry the enthusiasm and the love of carrying our country economically to higher levels. Therefore, what falls to us is to work for the development of our country: to produce more, to invest and thereby to create employment.
Praise be to God, as MÜSİAD we have to date carried out many fine works in terms of creating employment and increasing investment. God willing, our work will continue from now on as well.
I hope that our meeting will be a means of goodness for all of us. First of all, I thank you very much for attending the meeting. In addition, I greet with respect and reverence all our members and all our people who contribute to our MÜSİAD with their efforts, their labour and the sweat of their brow…
May God protect you.
Mahmut Asmalı
President of MÜSİAD