MÜSİAD - MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE and FORESTRY

COOPERATION PROTOCOL

12 September 2019

ANKARA

Honourable Minister,

Honourable President of the Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution,

Esteemed Presidents and Representatives of the Business World and NGOs,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

With the joy of coming together in Ankara on such a fine occasion, I respectfully greet you all.

Honourable Minister, Distinguished Guests,

As MÜSİAD, we carry out work aimed at enabling our members to succeed in their existing businesses and thereby contribute more to our country’s economy. The source of motivation for success in our work has always been the prosperity of our country and our nation. It was this motivation that we set out from when we put forward the slogan “Our Cause is Türkiye”.

Today we see that the balances in the world economy are changing. Fierce competition and the increasingly harsh conditions in the commercial arena indicate that a difficult process awaits us in the future. At this point, the most important emphasis is that countries should take their place in this arena by making the best use of their own resources.

One of the issues that emerges before us here is rural development.

Achieving rural development is directly proportional to the determination of the political will, above all that of the policymakers. Today we see this determination.

Noting that local administrations and civil society organizations play an important role, I would like to express that we, as MÜSİAD, are aware of the duties and responsibilities that fall to us at this point.

Unlike other NGOs, MÜSİAD makes a great contribution to regional development.

Thanks to our extensive organizational network, we reach micro data directly. In regional development, being able to obtain micro and macro data together is a great advantage.

We are the only NGO that can process micro information by taking it directly from the grassroots, and this is where we differ. Therefore, MÜSİAD’s role in regional development is a key one.

Honourable Minister, Esteemed Guests,

We regard progress in food, agriculture and livestock, which we consider one of the strategic sectors, as the starting point of rural development. As MÜSİAD, in order to achieve this, we are putting forward a project named Rural Cities. First of all, we must revive and keep alive the gradually disappearing perception of rural development.

For this purpose, in the new term we established the MÜSİAD Rural Transformation, Agricultural and Livestock Development Committee.

Our starting point here is this: let us provide the comfort of the city in the countryside as far as possible, so that we increase the appeal of rural life.

Türkiye holds significant advantages in agriculture and livestock, as it does in many other fields; our deep-rooted production tradition in agriculture and livestock is one such advantage.

There are a number of conditions that our people need in order to meet their expectations and to turn towards this field, which demands the utmost devotion. We must fulfil them. We can achieve this by strengthening the infrastructure, by supporting production and, in particular, by encouraging the young population towards rural life.

In this way, by giving substance to the concept of “employment in place”, we will be able to ensure that our people in rural areas remain in their own regions. This is essential if we are to prevent internal migration, by saving our people who possess ancient production knowledge from being torn away from the lands where they were born and raised and having to struggle for life in the big cities.

Of course, there are many components such as incentives and the necessary regulations; it is a subject that must be examined in detail and with care.

With your permission, I would like to touch briefly on a few points here without going into detail.

Agricultural production is a driving force in terms of countries’ external dependence and their self-sufficiency. The issue of seed is one of the most strategic points within agricultural production. Today, the greatest weapon of the countries and companies that advocate monopolization in agriculture is seed. Türkiye is a magnificent natural, that is, traditional seed region. While there are on average 3,000-4,000 seed varieties across the whole of the European continent, today in our lands alone

there are approximately 7,000 seed varieties. Nearly 4,000 of these are endemic seeds.

While we hold such a wealth in our hands, it is of vital importance that we protect it and pass it on to future generations. Modern agricultural technologies that will increase quality and efficiency in production are indispensable for agricultural production today. Modernization in agriculture is a necessity, indeed an obligation, for countries such as ours whose future goals are great.

However, I am of the opinion that, while using technology in production, we also bear a great responsibility to stay away from practices that will cause harm in the long term.

When current data is read correctly, the figures are such as to prove that success comes when we continue on our way without anxiety but with precaution.

When we look at TÜİK’s domestic seed production data, we see that domestic seed production has increased since 2012 together with the incentives given to certified seed production. Production figures rose from 145,227 tons in 2012 to 1,059,316 tons in 2018.

Our country has recorded significant progress in the production and foreign trade of agricultural products.

In the production of cereals, vegetables, fruits and other plant products, domestic demand is met without any problems.

While the degree to which domestic production meets domestic demand in total cereal products is %98, the sufficiency rate of wheat is %111.7, that of barley is %90.2 and that of maize is at the level of %73.3.

In total vegetable products, the degree to which domestic production meets domestic demand is at the level of %106.6.

The figures show that agricultural production in our country is quite sufficient to meet domestic demand.

In the foreign trade of agricultural products, the figures are seen to have increased exponentially, especially over the last 20 years; along with this, a great increase has been observed in imports as well as in exports. While it was only USD 5.1 billion in 1998, it rose to USD 20.7 billion in 2018.

Total agricultural product imports, which stood at USD 4.3 billion in 1998, amounted to USD 17.7 billion in 2018.

Thus, in 2018 a foreign trade surplus of approximately USD 3 billion was recorded in agricultural products.

Along with this, due to the intensification of migration from rural areas to the cities, it is seen that %84 of the country’s population now lives in cities. Proceeding from the fact that the population which was a producer in the countryside has become a food consumer in the city, the issue of agricultural production must always be on our agenda so that we do not fall into the position of an “importing country” in agriculture in the medium and long term.

By examining and analysing in detail the examples of Switzerland, the Netherlands and Australia, we must carry our existing ancient rural production tradition to the level of these countries, and even further.

It is possible to increase the quality and efficiency of the production carried out in this field by raising the prosperity of our farmers and of our people who contribute to rural development. As long as we can establish this system, Türkiye’s future in rural development will be bright.

Making assessments and analyses is of course very important; but in the new term we say this with particular emphasis: steps that are “project-oriented and geared towards business development” must be taken.

It is now time to put into practice the projects we have designed in our minds.

The countries that today hold production power in agriculture have attained this success by planning and by adhering to their plans to the maximum extent. We too, as Türkiye, in order to give agriculture the momentum it once had, must begin by first preparing a 10-year development plan.

Türkiye no longer has the luxury of losing time. Our goals are great, and if we proceed in a planned manner, we have the strength to realize these goals. Our faith in our country and in our people on this matter is complete.

As we have stated on every platform, as MÜSİAD we are always ready to put our shoulder to the wheel on this matter.

Honourable Minister, Esteemed Guests,

With 87 points at home and 224 points in 94 countries abroad, we are a widespread and effective NGO, a structure advancing with the motto “Together”. We have adopted this as our principle, and we attach importance to always acting in cooperation, above all with state institutions and our government officials.

Because we believe that we will reach the strength we truly possess only if we succeed in bringing different perspectives together and achieving a common outlook.

In this context, I hope that the protocol we will sign today will bring blessings first of all to our country, to our nation and to our business world.

I extend my particular thanks to our Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Mr Bekir Pakdemirli, who shares the excitement we feel for our future plans and for carrying our country to its goals, and who has never withheld his support.

I greet you all with respect and affection.

Abdurrahman Kaan

President of MÜSİAD