MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı stated: “For 31 years we have been moving forward by drawing our strength from our members. With this strength we are growing, and with the inspiration and synergy we draw from our values we are building both our today and our tomorrow.”
Conveying their new road map, Asmalı said: “We are working to announce Türkiye's producer identity, its value-added strength and its innovative growth drive to the whole world, and we will continue to work with great enthusiasm. In order to achieve this aim, we have set 7 strategic goals.”
MÜSİAD, which has reached 88 branches at home and 81 contact points in 74 countries abroad, provides employment for 1 million 800 thousand people through its 11,000 members operating in different sectors and 60,000 companies, while also shaping the development of the Turkish economy through the added value it creates. Elected President following MÜSİAD's 26th Ordinary General Assembly held on 21 September, Mahmut Asmalı has assumed important responsibilities within MÜSİAD, such as Chairman of the Construction Sector Board between 2009 and 2011, Member of the Board of Directors between 2013 and 2017, Deputy President of MÜSİAD between 2017 and 2019, and Chairman of the MÜSİAD Qard al-Hasan Fund between 2019 and 2021.
“MÜSİAD HAS AN IMPORTANT MISSION IN MAKING TÜRKİYE A GLOBAL PLAYER”
Stating that, together with the vice presidents who took office in the new board of directors following MÜSİAD's 26th Ordinary General Assembly — Gökhan Yetkin, Mehmet Develioğlu, Soner Meşe, Ahmet Doğan Alperen, Muhammed Ali Özeken and Davut Altunbaş — they would undertake successful projects and collaborations, Mahmut Asmalı said: “In addition to Türkiye's economic and social development, MÜSİAD also has a very important mission in making it a global player. In the new term, we have left our 58th day behind. Holding consultations with our domestic and international branch presidents and our board members, we prepared our strategic action plan for the new term. We then paid courtesy visits to the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye and to 13 ministries. We focused on collaborations with different NGOs, on developing projects with the leading stakeholders of the business world at national and global scale, on meeting media representatives and on conveying our vision for the future to different segments of society.” Underlining that in the new term they will support every effort that will contribute to Türkiye's development and raise the welfare level of the people, Asmalı pointed out that, as MÜSİAD, they are working to announce ‘Türkiye's producer identity, its value-added strength and its innovative growth drive' to the whole world, and that they will continue to work with great enthusiasm.
SEVEN STRATEGIC GOALS SET FOR THE NEW TERM
Stating that they are moving forward with the aim of providing added value in every respect to Türkiye's domestic and national production power, Asmalı said: “For 31 years we have been moving forward by drawing our strength from our members. In the period ahead, by combining our past experience with today's innovations, we will carry Türkiye to brand-new horizons with the principle of ‘High Morality, High Technology' that we voiced at our founding as well.” Mahmut Asmalı then listed the seven strategic goals on which they will focus in the new term in line with this vision as follows:
“-Strengthening MÜSİAD offices in all G20 countries and increasing commercial diplomacy,
-Establishing the Gulf Businessmen Liaison Office,
-Holding the MÜSİAD Expo Fair abroad, particularly in Europe,
-Establishing the International Arbitration Centre,
-Supporting micro exports and, in this direction, strengthening the infrastructure processes of each of our members, such as logistics, transport, human resources and payment systems,
-Bringing ambassadors and commercial attachés together with business people in Anatolia through economic diplomacy activities,
-Establishing the MÜSİAD Trade Office (MTO).”
“WE HAVE FULL CONFIDENCE THAT TÜRKİYE'S ECONOMY WILL REACH USD 250 BILLION IN EXPORTS IN 2023”
Pointing out that, although the economic contraction experienced globally has affected all countries negatively, the Turkish economy reached a total export level of USD 181.8 billion in the January-October period of 2021, Asmalı said: “In October, with exports of USD 20.8 billion, the highest monthly export figure in history was recorded. Exports over the last 12 months exceeded USD 215 billion. As MÜSİAD, we have full confidence that Türkiye's economy will exceed the export target of USD 250 billion in 2023, particularly with the increase in services exports.”
E-COMMERCE AND MICRO EXPORTS TO BE SUPPORTED
Emphasizing that, within the scope of the special survey they conducted with MÜSİAD member exporters in November, they will proceed with 3 basic strategies in order for Türkiye's exports to rise to the level of USD 300 billion, MÜSİAD President Asmalı conveyed these strategies as follows: “The first is to give weight to the export of value-added, high-technology products. The second is to focus on international logistics centres and to strengthen every kind of infrastructure process in this scope. The third is to support e-commerce and micro exports. The e-commerce sector, which is growing rapidly in the world, has an important place in all our lives. In 2020, the world's retail e-commerce volume increased 15-fold over the last 10 years and reached USD 4.2 trillion.
Our geostrategic location, our young population approaching 30 million, our stable political structure in our region, our potential to address a market of 1.6 billion people and a GNP of USD 28 trillion within a four-hour flight distance, and the fact that we have industrial and trade cities that export more than USD 1 billion will carry Türkiye to a far different position in e-commerce.”
COMMERCIAL DIPLOMACY EFFORTS GAINED MOMENTUM
Mahmut Asmalı commented: “Türkiye is advancing towards a far brighter future than today with its production power, its innovative moves in infrastructure and superstructure works and its expertise in different sectors. So that our exports increase permanently, so that we acquire the quality of a country that runs a foreign trade surplus, and so that net external demand thus continues to make a positive contribution to economic growth as it has in the last two quarters, we are candidates for all possible new export markets, from Europe to America and from Asia to Africa. For this reason, as MÜSİAD, we have given weight to our commercial diplomacy efforts. Within 58 days, we brought Pakistani business people together with Turkish business people. Indonesian and Turkish business people came together within the framework of the B2B meetings held at MÜSİAD and signed new partnerships. With the opening of MÜSİAD Berlin, Turkish and European business people came together under the MÜSİAD roof. By the end of the year, we will undertake three important events. In November, within the scope of the 25th International Business Forum, we will practically land in Baku with 3 private aircraft and more than 500 businessmen, together with over 1,000 business people including our international branches and the representatives of other stakeholder countries that are members of the forum. Between 3 and 4 December, with the participation of our branch presidents, we will hold the General Administrative Board meeting in Bursa. On 22 December, at the İstanbul Haliç Congress Centre, we will hold our 4th Visionary'21 event.”
GREAT IMPORTANCE ATTACHED TO SUSTAINABILITY
Stating that making this structure sustainable is one of MÜSİAD's most important missions, just as much as building a quality production and service infrastructure, Asmalı continued as follows: “With the synergy of the companies that are members of MÜSİAD, we are taking important steps to support sustainability in every process, from production to the service network. The Paris Climate Agreement, with a series of practices within the scope of the fight against the climate crisis, places important responsibilities on our business world. In this scope, as MÜSİAD in Türkiye, we have two basic goals: the first stage is to support sustainability in every field... The second stage is to be the pioneer of projects aimed at minimizing the carbon footprint that may arise in the production chain in almost every sector, from automotive to food, from transport to energy, and from ready-made clothing to agriculture.”
IMPORTANT PROJECTS TO BE DEVELOPED WITH YOUNG MÜSİAD AND MÜSİAD WOMEN
Stating that, in addition to all these efforts, they will continue to support the projects of Young MÜSİAD and MÜSİAD Women, Asmalı said: “This term will be a term in which every young person and every woman for whom effort has long been expended will contribute in many ways to economic employment. With the strong support we will give to MÜSİAD Women, we will together bring to life many projects that will shape the future. At this point we have two priority goals: to concentrate on Young MÜSİAD's international organization efforts and to increase the number of MÜSAD Women members across Türkiye.”
“A FAR BRIGHTER FUTURE AWAITS OUR YOUNG PEOPLE”
MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı, who stated: “With the synergy of our sector boards, our business commissions and our members, we will carry the Turkish economy and our social welfare to the point they deserve in the world,” gave the following message in closing: “Most of our infrastructure and superstructure investments that will carry Türkiye into the future and that are also needed in order to have a say politically and economically in the world — such as roads, bridges, universities, hospitals, dams, renewable energy production sources, natural gas and nuclear power plants — have been completed, and the rest are being completed rapidly. A far brighter future awaits our young people, today's children, who will be tomorrow's business people, academics, entrepreneurs and investors. Türkiye, with a strong economy, will be the greatest pioneer of the rebuilding of a world in which rights and law, justice and equality, peace and trust, and welfare and happiness prevail.”
