MÜSİAD EXPO 2024 Closing Speech
29 November 2024
Mr. President,
Esteemed Ministers,
Esteemed representatives of the business world,
Esteemed members of the press,
Esteemed members of our MÜSİAD,
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
I greet you all with respect and with affection.
Our MÜSİAD EXPO fair has opened its doors to the whole world for the 20th time. With MÜSİAD EXPO, the largest trade fair of Türkiye and of our region, the heart of world trade beat for a whole week in our ancient city of İstanbul. We are happy and we are proud!
The MÜSİAD EXPO fair, which ranks foremost among the activities MÜSİAD has valued most since the day it was founded, has at the same time become a mark of Türkiye’s rise in world trade, of the surge of Anatolian capital, of our country’s determination on its journey towards economic “full independence” and of its unshakeable faith in the future. In the periods to come it will, God willing, continue to climb the steps of success…
Therefore, I thank you all for honouring this special day of ours, which is as important for our country as it is for the MÜSİAD community, and I greet you with affection.
Mr. President, Distinguished Participants,
These ancient lands, lying at the heart of the Silk Road, have always stood at the centre of production, of trade and of the creation of added value. And we, as members of this fertile geography, attach great importance to our neighbours, to our region and to this ancient geography with which we share a common culture and common values, as much as we do to our own country.
Thanks be to God, on the road we set out upon with sincere intentions we are always rewarded with abundance and blessing. In this respect we may say that our 20th MÜSİAD EXPO fair too passed amid abundance and blessing. God willing, let us say may there be many more…
This year, on the road we set out upon with the motto “Global Trade Is Here”, we hosted participants from a full 94 countries and more than 300 companies from 24 sectors. We had the joy of coming together with our participants from strategic sectors such as textiles, machinery, construction, food and the defence industry…
Our 20th MÜSİAD EXPO fair began, as it always does, with our IBF International Business Forum. At our IBF meeting we touched upon one of the most important issues of our day, the issue of migration. We took up the subject under the heading “Migration in the Humanitarian and Economic Sense” and held consultations upon it.
Afterwards we held the enthusiastic opening ceremony of our 20th MÜSİAD EXPO fair.
Our fair received important high-level international participation befitting its renown. More than 20 countries took part in our fair with stands. In addition, visitors from 94 different countries such as the United Kingdom, Iraq, Malaysia and Algeria showed their interest in our fair. From Algeria alone a crowded delegation of 300 people attended. Likewise, crowded delegations from Iraq and from the United Kingdom took their places at MÜSİAD EXPO 2024 in order to hold bilateral business talks. Besides these, a large group of investors from Malaysia was also present at our fair in order to take part in our B2B meetings programme. I thank all our participants once again.
While the occasion allows, it is worth stating: we owe particular gratitude to our Ministry of Trade. They provided purchasing delegation support to our fair... Thanks to this, we achieved the success of bringing our business people together with the Purchasing Delegations that had been formed through meticulous work.
Thanks to these important efforts, I am of the opinion that at this year’s fair we shall, God willing, exceed the high-level satisfaction rate of %93 that we reached at MÜSİAD EXPO 2022.
Esteemed participants, distinguished guests,
From its first day to its last, we made every effort within our power to provide benefit to our participants with a full programme. Following our opening, at the Diplomatic Missions Reception we held talks with the ambassadors and consuls who attended from all over the world. We also held consultations at the MÜSİAD World Presidents Meeting.
With the G20 Panel we held important discussions on the world economy. With the Türkiye–Iraq Business Forum we strengthened the bonds of friendship and trade between the two countries. With the MÜSİAD INVEST programme we brought international investors together with Turkish entrepreneurs. And finally, at our Gala dinner we once again reinforced our solidarity with the esteemed representatives of our business world.
And on this final day of MÜSİAD EXPO 2024, we crown our fair with the presence of our esteemed President. On this occasion, in the presence of all our participants, I once again thank our esteemed President most sincerely for honouring MÜSİAD EXPO 2024.
Mr. President,
MÜSİAD EXPO is not a fair in the sense we know. With this fair we also strive to put forward a vision that gives direction to the future in the light of our deep-rooted past, our beliefs and our values. The understanding of the “Medina Market”, which has become almost identified with MÜSİAD, guides us at this point…
For the spirit of the “Medina Market” is not merely a commercial system but a guide for humanity. Drawing inspiration from the Medina Market, the symbol of solidarity, of sharing and of trust, we have for years been bringing our domestic and foreign business people together around opportunities for cooperation founded on justice and trust.
Therefore we know this very well: throughout our MÜSİAD EXPO fair not only business agreements will be concluded; at the same time new bridges of brotherhood will be built and the foundations of partnerships based on trust will be laid.
For this fair is not for us merely an economic organization; it is the strongest indicator of how the entrepreneurial spirit, the faith and the values of the Turkish nation are rising today. In the same way, it is an indicator of our understanding of the “Medina Market” and of the philosophy of “Be upright as you are commanded!” as enjoined by our Exalted Religion, Islam.
In line with this thought and this philosophy, we too are investing not only in our companies and our participants but also in the prestige and the future of our country…
Esteemed Mr. President, dear MÜSİAD Family,
Under the leadership of our esteemed President, our country has now become not merely a regional power but a global actor.
While a great struggle is taking place in the world economy, we always emerge from that struggle stronger.
As a nation we have passed through many thorny trials throughout history. Today, praise be to our Lord, our country has opened the doors of a wholly new era and has gained great momentum in every field, from the economy to the defence industry, from diplomacy to commercial relations. Yet we must not forget that we do not have the luxury of leaning back on these great successes and slackening. Our road is long and our targets are great!
Under the leadership of our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Türkiye has become an influential power not only on a regional but also on a global scale. Today, the level we have reached in our defence industry, the distance we have covered in our economic development and our effectiveness in the diplomatic field have shown the whole world what a nation can achieve with determination and with resolve.
If today we did not have our domestic defence industry projects, in what state would Türkiye be amid the turbulent political and military atmosphere of our region? All of this has become possible thanks to the vision, the courage and the resolve of our esteemed President, who has virtually carried our country into a new age. I once again offer our gratitude to our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who inspires us with his strong leadership and his resolute stance and who is the architect of this transformation.
Distinguished Participants,
Now there lies before us a most important period of opportunity that will carry Türkiye further forward. The year 2025 will be a year of reform for Türkiye. With the sweeping reforms we shall carry out in every field, from the economy to education and from technology to trade, we shall carry our country still higher in global competition. In order to realize these reforms, with the strength we draw from our history and with our faith in our nation, we shall continue to work and to produce.
In this blessed march there are important duties falling to all of us. As the business world, we are obliged to fulfil our responsibility in every field, from production to investment and from trade to exports. In order to carry the momentum we have gained today into the future, we must work harder and produce more. This is our historic responsibility, and at the same time it is what future generations expect of us.
As MÜSİAD, in order to contribute to this, we are making every effort and every endeavour within our power through our fairs, our events and activities and our publications.
The two reports we published one after the other in recent months alone are an indication of the level of seriousness with which we take the matter.
The report “From a Consumption Economy to an Economy of Contentment”, prepared with the contributions of Türkiye’s leading academics and experts and published in October, offers solutions to the economic and environmental crises created by excessive consumption and the inefficient use of resources. Placing the effective use of resources and thrift at its centre, the report draws a comprehensive road map for the construction of a sustainable economic model.
The study entitled “Türkiye’s Migration Report: A Road Map for an Integrated Migration Policy”, which we shared with the public at the beginning of this month, only last week, emphasizes that migration, when properly managed, is an opportunity providing social, economic and cultural enrichment rather than a crisis, and at the same time serves as a guiding reference for Türkiye’s migration policies.
Dear friends, esteemed MÜSİAD Family,
Today we know very well that every piece of work we do at MÜSİAD EXPO is an investment not only in our companies but equally in the prestige and the future of our country.
For this we have tried, together with our colleagues, to make every effort within our power. Personally, these days — in which I have entered the very last bend of my own term as president and am taking part in the last great events of our MÜSİAD — are in truth the most meaningful and the most significant of days.
After the next few months, together with our new president to whom we shall hand over the MÜSİAD flag, this distinguished institution of 35 years will, God willing, achieve new successes and new victories.
Of course, the effort is ours; the decree and the granting of success belong to God…
Esteemed Mr. President,
As I bring my words to a close, I thank everyone who contributed to the realization of this great organization. I hope that MÜSİAD EXPO 2024 will bring blessing and success to our country, to our nation and to our business world. My faith that together we shall march towards even greater successes is complete. With the consciousness of being one and together, we shall overcome all difficulties.
I respectfully greet you all.
May God protect you.
Mahmut Asmalı
President of MÜSİAD