MÜSİAD General Administrative Board - Closing Program
14 September 2024, Saturday
Honourable Minister,
Honourable Governor,
Esteemed members of our MÜSİAD,
Representatives of our business world,
Most esteemed members of the press,
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
I greet you all with respect, esteem and affection.
At our General Administrative Board meeting, at which we have come together, I pray to Almighty God that, God willing, we may obtain fruitful results that will be a means of blessing for our country and our nation…
MÜSİAD, which has been working and producing without pause for more than 34 years, is an important civil society organization not only for our country but at the same time for the whole world. From the day it was founded until today, MÜSİAD has worked and striven self-sacrificingly for people's economic welfare and peace of mind.
Beyond the branches and representative offices it has opened in every province of our land, it assumed the standard-bearing of lawful earnings and of economic independence in all four corners of the world. In this way it devotedly laboured so that both our country and the cause of MÜSİAD might establish a throne in people's hearts.
As all of us know, MÜSİAD has always accomplished productive and pioneering work. The MÜSİAD Family has an outlook that works more each day than the day before, produces more value and provides added value for our country. That is precisely why MÜSİAD is the most productive and hardest-working business world organization in our country.
This is the reason for the passion of MÜSİAD members, who possess a domestic and national vision, to produce added value above all for our country and our nation. This is the reason for the need to carry out work that contributes to and strengthens our government's “Century of Türkiye” vision, primarily in the economy.
At precisely this point, I hope that our Medium-Term Program, announced in recent days, will also contribute in economic terms to the “Century of Türkiye” vision.
Honourable Minister, Esteemed MÜSİAD Family,
Our economy grew by %2.5 on an annual basis in the second quarter of the year, carrying its positive growth trend to a 16th consecutive quarter. Thus it continues to create a favourable impression within the global economy as well. Indeed, our country, which ranked 7th among the G20 countries whose growth data for the second quarter of the year have been announced, left behind such leading countries as France, England, Germany and South Korea.
When we look at the growth trend, it is seen that the contribution of domestic demand to growth decreased with the effect of monetary tightening and fell to 1.2 points. In this period the contribution of net external demand to growth was 1.3 points, and with the minor effect of investments at 0.1 points, balanced growth was generally observed.
In this period, along with the agriculture sector expanding by %3.7 on an annual basis, the growth of the construction sector by %6.5 and of the services sector by %2.9 were the most notable factors supporting our economic growth. However, the %1.8 contraction observed in the industrial sector on account of the shrinkage in domestic demand gives negative signals in terms of the sustainability of our economic stability.
At this point, bringing our growth trend into line with the Medium-Term Program targets is of particular importance. We hope that the new Medium-Term Program, which is highly important in that it constitutes the essential road map of the economic policies to be implemented over the coming 3 years, will be a means of blessing on behalf of all the actors of the economy.
In this framework, the fall of annual inflation for the month of August to %51.97, the lowest level of the last 13 months, is a highly gratifying development from our point of view as well. This recovery observed in inflation and the fall of the annual increase in producer prices to the lowest level of the last 40 months likewise give positive signals for the period ahead.
The favourable trend observed in labour markets and in the current account balance, for its part, has gained a clear and official position in the Medium-Term Program; thus the targets relating to the end of the program have been drawn to far more promising levels compared with the previous program.
As we have expressed at every opportunity, as MÜSİAD we support all the steps to be taken towards reducing to single-digit figures inflation, which particularly affects low- and middle-income groups deeply.
The basic policy areas determined for the period ahead and the implementation instruments directed at these policies will directly affect many decisions of the real sector, above all production, investment and employment. Our greatest desire at this point is that transparency and strong communication be maintained in the policies determined within the scope of the Medium-Term Program, and that acting in coordination with the business world be continued.
In this framework, it is very important that the environment of economic confidence and stability be supported by the structural reforms to be determined within the scope of the new Medium-Term Program. In particular, making macroeconomic and financial stability permanent, putting public financial reforms into practice, strengthening human capital and making the labour market more effective, continuing to improve the business and investment environment, and implementing as rapidly as possible the structural reforms aimed at reducing informality in the economy are the fundamental expectation of the business world.
Under these conditions, as MÜSİAD our confidence is complete that our national economy will continue its positive growth journey without slowing down in the “Century of Türkiye” as well. We hope that the period ahead will be one in which a permanent decline in inflation and price stability are achieved, and subsequently, at the end of the year, the calendar for easing the monetary tightening policy begins to become clear.
Honourable Minister, Esteemed Business World,
MÜSİAD has always been virtually the fortress of unity and togetherness. Being one and together is the most important key to being strong. As the MÜSİAD Family, we too will continue to strengthen our sense of unity and togetherness, which we emphasize at every opportunity.
At this point we are interlocked with one another through our faith. Thanks to this brotherhood of religion that binds us to one another, we come to possess the power to overcome many an issue.
Almighty God commands us as follows in verse 103 of Surah Al Imran:
“And hold fast, all together, to the rope of God, and do not be divided. Remember God's favour upon you: you were enemies to one another, and He brought your hearts together, and by His favour you became brothers. You were on the very brink of a pit of fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does God make His signs clear to you, so that you may find the right path.”
Despite all our differences, we must be one and must look after our brothers and sisters in religion who have migrated to our country. We must not forget that our brothers and sisters in religion who have migrated to our country bring us great benefits in terms of added value. What matters is to be able to manage this process in the most correct and most productive way and to produce gains for all of us.
As you know, merely speaking of issues is not a method of producing policy. If we analyse problems within a cause-and-effect relationship and place them in their proper context, only then do we provide productivity and can we produce added value for our country. We must see our country's potential well, produce rational strategies and put the decisions we take into practice under the guidance of technology.
With this perspective, as MÜSİAD we have prepared “Türkiye's Migration Report”… We will share with the public, God willing, our report bearing the subtitle “Understanding and Managing Migration”.
In this report of ours, for which we will hold an introduction meeting in the coming days, we say this: “Migration is in fact not a problem, but a process that needs to be managed well.” When we present the phenomenon of migration as a problem from the very outset, we leave many an issue as it is and fail to bring a solution… Yet what we call migration is like a flowing river: If it is managed well, it means abundance and blessing for everyone. But if it is managed badly, it becomes like a flood, destroying everything in its path. We must first of all become aware of this and take our position accordingly.
Honourable Minister, Esteemed Members of MÜSİAD, esteemed guests,
We possess a very strong bond of brotherhood.
For 34 years we have been walking the road without pause, with the passion of earning God's approval, of receiving the prayers of the nation and of remaining within the circle of lawful earnings.
On this journey our priority has always been our motto of “being one and together”. As we continue our journey of cause, as the entire MÜSİAD Family we will sustain the effort and endeavour we are capable of, from now on as we have done until today.
Esteemed MÜSİAD Family,
As I bring my remarks to an end, I pray that our General Administrative Board will be a means of blessing. I thank you very much for your attendance and greet you all with respect and esteem.
May God protect you.
Mahmut Asmalı
President of MÜSİAD