Central Anatolia Economy Forum – Opening Speech
Tuesday, 03 September 2019
GREETINGS IN ORDER OF PROTOCOL
It is a great pleasure and honour for me to be together with you on the occasion of the Central Anatolia Economy Forum, which coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Sivas Congress.
I extend my thanks to all the organizing and supporting institutions and organizations, above all to our member Ethem Sancak, who have brought us together on such an exceptional occasion; and I greet all participants and invited guests here before you with respect and affection.
Esteemed Guests, Distinguished Participants,
“If you are not ready to die for it, take the word freedom out of your vocabulary,” says Malcom X. We are the children of such a history that we do not put a price on our freedom. We pay the price. Indeed, one hundred years ago the flag of an all-out struggle for freedom was raised on these lands. What the Sivas Congress in fact told the whole world was this: you cannot break the national will within us, for whatever reason. Today the world is being reshaped once again. One hundred years later, as if history were repeating itself, the wills of nations are being tested anew.
While the new centres of power and the new trade routes of the global system are being determined, national economies and local differences are once again trying to open up a space of existence on the economic stage with their own identities. Let us have the figures speak. Let the figures show us the world market that has been reshaped over the past 30 years: in 1990 the US economy accounted for a quarter of the global economy. The European Union countries, with %32, were a serious threat to the United States. In this bipolar world order, in that same year, China's share of the global economy was only %2, while the share of the East Asian countries was %17.
What was happening in Türkiye during this period? The 1990s were the years in which Türkiye financed growth through high inflation. With economic volatility reaching % 4.5, our country was far removed from a stable growth strategy and was spending all its strength on the fight against terrorism.
By 2008, which is regarded as the turning point at which the economic architecture of the new era was determined, the space occupied by the United States in the global economy fell to %23 and that of the EU to 30, while China's share rose to %7. In those years the applications brought before the Dispute Settlement Mechanism of the World Trade Organization because of China were increasing.
The new global player was, with its aggressive production and marketing strategy, virtually preparing to assault world trade.
By 2018, while the United States preserved its share in the world economy, the EU began to bleed steadily. With its %22 share and the dissenting voices growing within its own body, the EU surrendered its share to the new global power. The rise of China to %16 and of the East Asian countries to %25 in the global pie also compelled Türkiye to restructure itself and to adopt a new economic paradigm.
Esteemed Guests,
As you know, the 2008 crisis was in fact something far beyond a financial crisis. It was an economic rupture, and it changed our fundamental truths about the world economy.
There is no need to reach for very complicated concepts: it changed even the definition of the most basic matter, namely money. Money took on almost the position of a commodity.
It left its cash identity behind and began to behave as book money, indeed almost as a promissory note. States tried to nationalize and cool down their economies, which globalization had overheated. Türkiye was a young country. This was not yet a place so worn down by the sharp manoeuvres of capitalism.
It was a country of well-intentioned people, of merchants. It was young, eager, and its resources were highly appetizing. And most importantly, since we did not carry any contamination related to the financial parameters that triggered the fundamental rupture of 2008, we were not greatly affected. Our esteemed President had a very apt expression: it passed by tangentially. Yet at the point we have reached today, projections for the future tell us to be far more cautious.
Esteemed Guests, Distinguished Participants
A century ago, mandatism was decisively rejected on these lands.
Today the uniform distribution in the world economy indicates that a far more difficult process awaits us: a four-polar world order.
According to IMF data, the global economic distribution of the world in 2023 is projected as follows: the United States %22, the EU %20, China 19, East Asia %28.
It would surely not be wrong to say that a difficult and harsh commercial arena awaits us. At the stage we have reached today, the moves of the United States to reduce its dependence on the East Asian countries — above all China — have dragged the global economy into the process known as “trade wars”. Liberal policies have been abandoned, and this has caused “protectionist” policies to come into fashion. Within the scope of these developments, another important axis is China's project known as the Belt and Road. This project is highly significant in that it covers 65 countries, a population of 4.4 billion and %55 of the global economy. We are in the position of being the determining country of this corridor. However, there is also a highly critical area here from our point of view:
The development and economic interests of the Central Asian, Central African and Arab countries through which the economic corridors of the project pass coincide with the project aims declared by China. This situation makes it necessary, indeed obligatory, to review the investment lines and the concept of economic security.
İsmet Özel has a fine saying. He says: “Everything has a price. Let those who say they have given you peace also say what they have taken from you.”
Today China is perceived in many fields as the domino force of trade.
Yet this situation must not make us forget the footsteps of a new hegemony. Moreover, this new power, in terms of both population and geopolitical positioning, is a far more immediate threat when compared with the overseas interventions of the distant continent.
Likewise, when the intelligence power it has established in Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific is added, this reveals a far more imminent threat that we shall face in the future: Economic Intelligence Wars. In this context, it is exactly the right time to review not only our economic parameters but also our security perceptions.
Esteemed Guests
There is a concept we frequently voice: that field knowledge will govern economic superiorities in the new world order.
Whether or not the Belt and Road project is completed, the issue is not so much the commercial advantages this project will create, but rather that it establishes a proximity of contact with the commercial knowledge of all the countries on this line or in its hinterland.
The reason for creating belt lines of this kind is, in a sense, to discover and bring under control the depth of the economic field within countries.
A century ago, here, at the Sivas Congress, the principles of the National Pact were adopted. Full independence and national sovereignty were accepted as fundamental principles. Today the new world order is redefining the elements of national power that will secure national borders. So-called new National Pact borders are being dictated to national economies.
We must be particularly prepared for these.
As MÜSİAD, we have prepared a comprehensive master plan on this matter.
In the 30th year of the road we set out upon with the motto “Our cause is Türkiye”, saying “Together for ever, in good days and in bad”, we underlined that the economic actors of our country must walk together and in synchrony. We have also completed our own institutional restructuring in line with the new requirements of the new world order awaiting us.
Esteemed Guests,
The measurement of national power is possible only by regarding the economy as the fundamental element of national power. In the name of our national economy initiative, we have acted upon the following equation:
Basic national resources determine national performance. National performance is essential for economic competence. What are these national resources? Of course:
R&D and innovation management
Management of Venture Funds
Creating Qualified Human Resources
Financial and national capital resources
Physical, natural and tourism resources
And finally, infrastructure investments.
The proper and correct use of these resources carries us to the stage of national performance. In other words, the economy becomes a measure of national power.
Our national performance, in turn, is measured by three fundamental components:
The security of capital
Building economic intelligence
Commercial and economic diplomacy
The competitive advantage we shall produce in these three fundamental components will bring our country to the level of economic competence:
Economic competence is the key factor in today's new world order.
Making future plans for strategic resources and the capacity to react instantly to change — that is, the “economic reflex” — is an indicator of our capability for economic war and struggle.
Esteemed Guests,
Economic security and economic intelligence are the new fields of manoeuvre and management that the new economic architecture has brought us. These are its new political elements.
The work to be carried out in these areas will make us both strong and the key country of all trade lines and belts.
It is precisely at this point that the importance of field knowledge emerges once again. Economic war is not merely the continuation of a series of trade wars.
In the new era, diplomacy and domestic politics are being used almost as a pair of tongs in the sharing out of the global world market. Did we not experience the clearest example of this in the Brexit process within the EU? I would suggest looking at the matter from this angle as well.
While both sides seek ways to close Brexit with the least damage, this process at the same time offers important clues about the future of the EU.
At this difficult turning point awaiting the EU countries, the first priority for Türkiye will be to deepen bilateral relations with the EU member states rather than relations with the EU itself.
Esteemed Guests,
How beautifully Muhammed Said put it: if living is an art, living together is a great art. While disagreements and disputes of interest are being experienced among the Western countries, an increase is observed in the cooperation among developing countries. Foremost among these platforms is BRICS. This movement of togetherness is not merely a trade partnership; it has at the same time created the expectation of a more just world order for developing countries.
The population of the countries that are members of BRICS, which constitutes approximately one fifth of the world economy, covers %40 of the world's population.
The member states of this international group hold % 60 of the world's mineral reserves, while these countries also produce %40 of grain products and stand as the world's food depot. For our country to have a say here would be a strategic step.
In the words of our esteemed head of state: the world is bigger than five.
Look, Esteemed Guests: such a statement is the summary of a revolt, of a challenge, of an honourable stance.
One hundred years ago it was proven on these lands that no one can stand against the national will and that the strength in the hearts of people who fight for justice cannot be bought.
And this upright stance is once again able to bring so many courageous people together here today. The E 7 structure that has emerged against the G7 tells us today, as it were: the old village is in great need of new customs. In an international environment moving towards a multipolar system, the E7 concept must be taken seriously, for these 7 rising countries are expected to be %75 larger than the G7 countries by 2050.
For this reason Türkiye too takes this forecast into account and shapes both its economic relations and its diplomatic decisions according to this new system.
Esteemed Guests,
Türkiye is an ancient civilization of a difficult geography.
With its own distinctive values and with the concepts it has bestowed upon the history of world diplomacy, it stands firm and upright. It has been able to rise again, through the trust in God and the contemplation given by this ancient tradition of statehood, from storms of which it was said that any state they befell would be razed to the ground.
Praise be to God, for the last 17 years in particular we have been standing firm and proud, waging this struggle on every front and at every stage. And we shall continue to wage it.
Esteemed Guests,
With the Sivas Congress, a brand-new authority drawing its strength from the people emerged. Today, with the support of our nation, we are building a brand-new Türkiye together.
We are moving forward by bringing out the local elements of a national economy compatible with the international conjuncture. I too am an industrialist. I say with pride that I am an investor.
Whatever the circumstances, I also serve as the president of a capital platform formed by courageous people who believe that, under any conditions, one must put one's hand under the stone for the survival of our homeland. As MÜSİAD, and as I myself, a humble Turkish industrialist, we share on every occasion the picture we see with both our state and our administrators.
The field is something else. Coming from the field makes you a part of the nation. MÜSİAD is, for this reason, a matter of the homeland.
How fortunate we are that the institution hosting such an organization is also a MÜSİAD member. With a brand-new enthusiasm, we have launched a process of renewal in order to contribute to our country's adventure of surging forward.
The aim here was to launch a national economic initiative by seeing the multipolar and threatening picture of the new world order.
Here today I would like to share with you, for the first time, the new economic motto of MÜSİAD, which has spread to 311 points at home and abroad and is one of the largest capital platforms in the world. Believing in the abundance of this land where the Sivas Congress was held and where a nation's struggle began, I hope that the model we have prepared will also benefit from this abundance.
We also describe our own renewal process as an economic plan, so that it may serve the economic transformation of our homeland:
What should be done? How should support be given? How should the motto “Together” be honoured? We are seeking the answers to these questions.
Spreading our institutional process, which began with renewal, is our fundamental economic aim. For this reason, the plan we have prepared is a national leap forward, a change of economic paradigm. The plan is the transfer of capital towards the national.
It is the natural result not of compulsion but of consensus. It is the economic equivalent of the new understanding of governance. The plan is the search not for imitation but for the original. It is the preparation for the period after 2023
The plan is a change not of appearance but of architecture. It is a necessity not of cliques but of the people It is once again an infrastructure investment towards economic tradition
The name of our plan is therefore MİM: National Economic Architecture…
The aim here is the revival of local advantages and regional economies in line with the new equation I mentioned above for the measurement of national power, and the transition to a project-focused line of production, trade, partnership and investment.
Because we know that in a country the power of money is determined by that country's power of production. The aim in this model is not to scale and classify capital, but to build a network economy that is spread across the base and fed from the base.
We know one thing very well: movements that find no response at the base, or that do not win wide acceptance at the level of the base, are not long-lived.
The same holds true for economic structures and organizations.
A capital bloc that is spread across the base and has established authority over a broad mass provides the following advantages: 1. It does not segregate capital; on the contrary, it spreads it to the base.
2. It prevents informality in the formation of the capital stock.
3. It ensures the active participation of SME-like structures in the formation of the capital stock. 4. It paves the way for SME mergers and for the formation of large capital groups. It increases specialization in production.
5. It lays the ground for the capital side to establish an internal funding system and to cover its own losses through these fund systems. It reduces the costs borne by the state, such as “company rescue and restructuring” and incentives.
In order to achieve this, at this stage of our renewal process we have diversified our general structure, which we call MÜSİAD FIELD DEPTH, into MÜSİAD VENTURE, MÜSİAD INNOVA, MÜSİAD LOCAL AND GLOBAL, MÜSİAD ACADEMY, MÜSİAD SYNCHRON
AND FINALLY MÜSİAD INVEST. We have restructured ourselves in the form of project-based committees that will support the active work of each of our field components.
Esteemed Guests, Distinguished Participants,
We believe in the power of the local.
For this reason we have made the policy of localization in investment the focus of the MİM movement. This programme, whose opening we are holding here today, is, if you look closely, a very fine example of an economic line extending from the global to the local.
In the new era we said: let us create city brands. We brought onto the agenda the restructuring of every city according to its regional advantages and its development through a new urbanization design. Because in the future it will not be states but cities that compete.
We have also designed our own committee structures in such a way as to bring both global values and local advantages to the fore.
We reject the uniform rules that the so-called modern world has imposed upon our cities as if slaughtering them. We reject the global polarization that disregards originality and local conduct, and its tradition of trade.
With this awareness, branding our province of Sivas, which bears the name of the strong past of the Central Anatolian Economy, in the name of economic victory in its 100th year, and spreading this model across our other provinces, must be the shared aim of all of us together with our stakeholders.
Esteemed Guests, at this important stop of the National Struggle, in the 100th year of victory, I extend my thanks to everyone who has brought us together through this meaningful event and who has laboured in the organization of such a strategic gathering; and I hope that the outcomes of the matters to be addressed in all the sessions will bring about good things for our homeland. May God protect you.