Distinguished Guests,

I extend my respects to the esteemed participants of the D8 Ambassadors Summit, which we held within the framework of the 19th MÜSİAD EXPO 2022 that we brought about at the TÜYAP Fair and Congress Center; welcome.

D8, formed under Türkiye's leadership by 8 Muslim countries with a population of more than one billion, stands out as a global formation with its principles and the geographical area it covers. The D8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, founded in 1997 with the İstanbul Declaration under the leadership of Türkiye, Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia and Bangladesh with the aim of increasing the prosperity and well-being of member nations, has maintained its presence strongly for 25 years with a population of approximately 1.2 billion. With an economy approaching USD 4 trillion and a geography exceeding 7.5 million square metres, D8 focuses on ensuring cooperation in development and on increasing trade and cooperation among member countries.

Distinguished Guests;

MÜSİAD, which has worked with great effort for more than 32 years for Türkiye's material and spiritual development on the national and global scale, also advances with the same mission.

It focuses on being part of every formation that will provide added value to the Turkish economy. MÜSİAD, which stands out as Türkiye's most widespread business world non-governmental organization, has reached 165 branches and contact points, with 84 points at home and 81 abroad. With our more than 13 thousand members and the 60 thousand enterprises belonging to our members, we provide employment for 2 million people. As Türkiye's largest capital and cooperation platform on both the local and the global scale, we provide significant added value to the country's economy.

Distinguished Guests;

Through the cooperation of our Government first and foremost, our ministries, our NGOs and private and public institutions, our country has been among the G20 countries that managed and came through the pandemic period most successfully. Following the rate of 7.5 percent relating to the first quarter of the year, the Turkish economy increased its pace in the second quarter and achieved growth of 7.6 percent, thus sustaining its positive growth trend for the 8th consecutive quarter. Ranking third among the G20 countries, it also maintained its positive decoupling.

While the global supply mechanism, seriously disrupted after Covid-19, was still in the process of recovery, the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine War turned into an inflation problem for our country as it did globally. Nevertheless, the Turkish economy has managed to spread its strong growth performance across the whole year. Indeed, international institutions such as the IMF, the OECD and the World Bank have revised their growth forecasts for our country upwards, contrary to those for other countries. As MÜSİAD, we believe that in 2023, which we will enter with this motivation, our national economy's production-, export- and employment-oriented growth process will continue, and on this occasion we reiterate our faith in the New Economy Model. The Türkiye Economy Model promises very significant advantages to producers, industrialists and investors. However, for the Model to become operational with 100 percent efficiency, financing costs must fall to far more reasonable levels than they stand at today.

Distinguished Guests;

MÜSİAD EXPO, which has undertaken an important mission in achieving Türkiye's 2023 export target, reached participants from 124 countries and 24 different sectors. On a 90 thousand square metre fair area, with a 25 thousand square metre stand area, more than 100 thousand participants and more than 60 purchasing delegations, we built a dynamic ecosystem in the foreign trade process not only for our MÜSİAD members but also for our producers, entrepreneurs and exporters in Türkiye and for the international investors we hosted.

Through the events we organized within the framework of MÜSİAD EXPO, Türkiye's most comprehensive mixed trade fair, we brought together diplomatic missions from all four corners of the world, our representatives abroad, and the ambassadors, consuls and honorary consuls in our country with our business people. We proved Türkiye's domestic and national production power to the whole world.

Distinguished Guests;

With MÜSİAD EXPO 2022, which we coordinated with innovative strategic goals after the pandemic, we aimed to contribute to the USD 300 billion export target Türkiye has set for 2023 and to carry our country's export and production vision to a much more advanced level. We offered all our esteemed participants a different fair-organizing vision in which the privileges of the digital world are combined with face-to-face communication.

We also introduced the MÜSİAD International Investment Support Office - MÜSİAD Invest at the MÜSİAD EXPO Fair. With MÜSİAD Invest we will undertake an advisory role by sharing accurate, sound commercial and data. We will guide entrepreneurs who wish to open up to global markets and foreign investors who wish to invest in Türkiye.

Distinguished Guests,

In the same way, with the MÜSİAD Trade Office we will guide our entrepreneurs and industrialists who wish to open up to international markets. Türkiye, which has further strengthened its logistical position with the mega projects developed over the last 20 years, continues with all its might to be the favourite of investors. We confirmed this interest on our business trip to the USA as well. We have an East Coast Strategy specific to the Americas region. In logistical terms our country is closer to the eastern region of America than many countries are. By making good use of this advantage, we will increase our influence in the USA and in the region's market. In this respect, the goal of completing our organization in the G20 countries, which we set out when we took office in September 2021, is also of great importance. We will soon put our organization in Mexico into operation and, with our work in Argentina, we will complete this goal of ours.

Not only in the USA, but also on our business trip to Uzbekistan and in our contacts in European countries, we witnessed a positive picture towards our country. The economic world order being reshaped after the pandemic holds great opportunities for Türkiye. Steps taken at the right time will enable us to make the best possible use of these opportunities.

Distinguished Guests;

With dynamic events such as the B2B meetings held within the framework of MÜSİAD EXPO 2022, positioned as the heart of commercial diplomacy, and the 26th International Business Forum, we successfully reflected the power Türkiye possesses along the axis of production and exports. Esteemed business people, investors and entrepreneurs from all four corners of the world took part in the IBF Congress.

We came together with our international branches and with more than 1000 business people from Canada, Türkiye, Europe, the USA, the Middle East, North Africa and Russia, as well as with the representatives of other stakeholder countries that are members of the forum. We held talks within the framework of the theme ‘Food Security and the Protection of Future Generations’ and shared our forecasts for the future.

Distinguished Guests;

D8, which held its first summit in İstanbul in 1997, has held 10 summits to date: in Dhaka in March 1999, in Cairo in February 2001, in Tehran in February 2004, in Bali in May 2006, in Kuala Lumpur in July 2008, in Abuja in July 2010, in Islamabad in November 2012, in İstanbul in October 2017 and, in April 2021, online under the hosting of Bangladesh because of the Covid-19 epidemic.

While Türkiye has held the term presidency of D8 since October 2017, the 10th summit, planned to convene in 2020 under the hosting of Bangladesh, was postponed because of the Covid-19 epidemic and was held online under the hosting of Bangladesh in April 2021.

Distinguished Guests;

Türkiye, for its part, has held the term presidency twice since the founding of D8.

After the 10th summit of D8, held online on 8 April under the hosting of Bangladesh, the term presidency passed from Türkiye to Bangladesh. At the 10th summit meeting, D8's 10-year road map was determined. In the road map, which aims to make the organization stronger and more advanced, the goal was set of updating the road map covering cooperation on such matters as trade, agriculture and food security, industrial cooperation and SMEs, energy, transport and connectivity, tourism and health within the framework of the changing nature of the international economic environment, and of building a structure suited to transformation.

In the second period of the road map, covering 2023-2027, trade cooperation will be deepened and the focus will be on carrying out various projects in six priority areas of cooperation. The third and final part of the 10-year cooperation, covering the 2028-2030 period, will be focused on ‘review and evaluation’. Accordingly, member countries will aim to bring their internal trade volumes to at least 10 percent of total D8 trade by the end of 2030.

Distinguished Guests;

Since the day it was founded, D8 has entered into various collaborations in various regional and global fields. D8, which also holds observer status at the United Nations (UN), has signed collaborations with institutions such as the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the Islamic Development Bank, Chatham House, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the African-Asian Rural Development Organization, the Islamic Centre for Scientific Research, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), Sabiha Gökçen Airport, the UN Cities and Local Governments Middle East and West Asia Regional Organization, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), the News Agency of Nigeria, Anadolu Agency (AA) and the Anatolian Youth Association.

Distinguished Guests;

As I bring my remarks to a close, I extend my thanks to all our esteemed participants with whom we have come together at the D8 Ambassadors Summit. I also hope that the memorandum of understanding, the MoU signing ceremony to be held at the D8 Ambassadors Summit, which we organized as a first within the framework of MÜSİAD EXPO with the participation of the D8 ambassadors, will be auspicious for all parties.

May God protect you.

Mahmut Asmalı

President of MÜSİAD