MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı came together with media representatives at the "Hasbihal Meeting with Members of the Press". Emphasizing that 2022 had been declared the "Year of Investment" by MÜSİAD, President Asmalı shared important information on the production, investment and employment policies of the new period and on the activities to be organized throughout the year to increase production and investment volume.
The first of the "Hasbihal Meeting with Members of the Press", to be organized at certain intervals by the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD), was held at the MÜSİAD Head Office building with the participation of President Mahmut Asmalı, Vice Presidents Gökhan Yetkin and Mehmet Develioğlu, MÜSİAD Women President Meryem İlbahar, Corporate Relations and Communications Commission Chairman Abdurrahman Uzun, Secretary General Dr. Cihad Terzioğlu and media representatives.
MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı, who shared his assessments during the program, stated that MÜSİAD had declared 2022 the "Year of Investment" in line with Türkiye's 2023 targets and said: "Throughout the year we will carry out major organizations that will provide added value to the Turkish economy, accelerate the employment process, increase production and investment volume, and give direction to the development of domestic and national projects." Referring also to MÜSİAD's 26th Ordinary General Assembly held on 11 September 2021, the MÜSİAD President stated that they had implemented many of the strategic targets set and that the work was continuing comprehensively.
Regional development will be supported through the MÜSİAD Trade Office and the Gulf Businessmen Liaison Office
Recalling that they had put forward a seven-point strategy plan in September, President Asmalı said that within the scope of these targets the MÜSİAD Trade Office and Gulf Businessmen Liaison Office projects had been implemented. President Asmalı emphasized that the trade offices in question would make an important contribution to regional development:
"In September, when we took office, we had put forward a seven-point strategy plan. Within the framework of this plan we had stated that we would establish the MÜSİAD Trade Office and the Gulf Businessmen Liaison Office, and we immediately launched this work, which will bring to life an accurate and effective working approach in domestic and foreign trade. Through this work, we aim to create new partnerships in export-oriented trade by preparing reports on the promotion of investment areas and the development of production fields. Again, through these units, we aim to create a working environment that supports regional development by bringing investors from the Gulf region together with our business people. At the same time, we are updating our infrastructure work for micro-export in a way that will provide maximum benefit to our members. At this point, I would like to emphasize our desire, as MÜSİAD, to have an indirect and direct impact on our country's 2023 targets with our 169 contact points in total, 88 at home and 81 points in 74 countries abroad."
The Anatolian Economic Diplomacy program will directly affect the "Year of Investment" targets
MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı stated that the steps in commercial diplomacy had been carried to a new dimension with the Anatolian Economic Diplomacy project, and noted that this work would directly affect the Year of Investment targets. President Asmalı stated that the project, which is carried out by inviting the representatives of foreign missions in our country, primarily ambassadors, into the field, offers entrepreneurs, industrialists and investors the opportunity to open new doors to trade.
President Asmalı continued his speech as follows:
"Another pillar of our strategy plan covers steps towards commercial diplomacy. At the Anatolian Economic Diplomacy programs we held in Çorum and Kayseri in recent weeks, we brought the Ankara Ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria together with our business people. We anticipate that the project we launched by inviting the representatives of foreign missions in our country, primarily ambassadors, into the field will make a serious contribution to regional development. The fact that entrepreneurs, industrialists and investors in the region find the opportunity for direct contact with foreign trade and open new doors to trade through this work supports this expectation. Within this scope, we will continue to bring ambassadors together with our business people by spreading the Anatolian Economic Diplomacy program across our country within the framework of the Year of Investment."
TRY 20 billion of investment in the first stage of the Anatolian Production and Investment Movement
Describing the Anatolian Production and Investment Movement launched by MÜSİAD in recent weeks as a "movement of confidence", President Asmalı stated that with this movement they aim for export-oriented investment and production across Anatolia.
MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı made the following statements in his assessment:
"At the forefront of the steps that will contribute to our country's economy and raise the welfare level of our people within the value chain being built is the Anatolian Production and Investment Movement. As MÜSİAD, we trust more than ever in the producers of Anatolia who are open to competition and have succeeded in entering global markets. With investments to be made at 40 different locations in more than 20 of our provinces, including metropolitan cities, we aim to bring dynamism to the export-oriented production mechanism. Within this scope, in the first stage we are implementing investment projects worth TRY 7.6 billion in Samsun, approximately TRY 4 billion in Adana, TRY 1.6 billion in İzmir and TRY 660 million in Sakarya. We will further expand the sphere of influence of this movement of confidence, which already reaches a total of TRY 20 billion, within the framework of the Year of Investment. We believe that the Anatolian Production and Investment Movement will also make a serious contribution to the labour market, and with our first-stage investment we aim to create up to 25,000 additional jobs in total."
MÜSİAD will bring a new breath to international trade
Continuing his words with the statement "We are going through a historic period in which the right decisions will be shaped by the right investments at the right time and will give direction to the future", President Asmalı emphasized that they had redesigned the MÜSİAD EXPO 2022 Trade Fair. Saying that a new breath would thereby be brought to Türkiye-centred international trade, President Asmalı stated that they would continue to explain Türkiye's investment potential with events to be held not only in İstanbul but also in cities outside İstanbul:
"We are engaged in a breakthrough that will reveal Türkiye's domestic and national production potential and open the way for our industrialists, investors and entrepreneurs in different provinces. We are going through a historic period in which the right decisions will be shaped by the right investments at the right time and will give direction to the future. We are designing our redesigned MÜSİAD EXPO 2022 Trade Fair with this understanding as well, creating a Trade Network that will unite continents. In this new understanding of trade, which we are building without being confined to a specific region or area, we favour being the side that sets the rules of the game rather than the side that merely plays it. Within this scope, we also aim to touch regional dynamics by moving our Turkish-Arab Business Summit outside İstanbul. Organizations such as the 2nd Turkish-Arab Business Summit, which will take place in Gaziantep on 10-12 June, and MÜSİAD EXPO 2022, which will be held on 2-5 November, will provide added value to our country within the framework of this mission and will accelerate the process of putting new investment projections into operation. Again this weekend, we are holding a TÜİT at Informatics Valley with our Gebze branch under the title of Digital Transformation in Industry. Next month we are opening our branch in Libya and organizing a trip to Côte d'Ivoire."
"We support young entrepreneurs, we trust our young people"
Stating that MÜSİAD's youth structures raise the business people of the future, President Asmalı said that they attach importance to young and women's entrepreneurship through Young MÜSİAD and MÜSİAD Women. Noting that MÜSİAD's doors are open to all young people, President Asmalı continued his words as follows:
"As MÜSİAD business people, we believe in Türkiye's potential and we trust our young people. Our brothers and sisters who joined our youth structures in previous periods, gained knowledge in different sectors, developed themselves and grew stronger with the experience they acquired here are today carrying out work that leaves a mark on the world. My young brothers and sisters who took part enthusiastically under this roof yesterday are today taking active roles on our MÜSİAD board of directors and representing not only MÜSİAD but our country at events such as the International Business Forum, the International Young Businessmen Congress, MÜSİAD Visionary and MÜSİAD EXPO. Again, these brothers and sisters of ours come together in the ideal of a producing and strong Türkiye at different organizations abroad. This enthusiasm gives us strength as well. Today's young entrepreneurial soldiers are the most important factor that will shape tomorrow's business world. For this reason, the doors of our MÜSİAD are wide open to our young people."
MÜSİAD will build a village in Syria
MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı, who also shared information on MÜSİAD's initiatives regarding social responsibility projects, announced that MÜSİAD would build a village in Syria. Touching also on the work carried out with the Akyuva Foundation for our disadvantaged girls, President Asmalı said: "Within the scope of social activity, our young people paid a visit to Darülaceze. MÜSİAD Women and our Akyuva Foundation held a workshop here with the orphaned and disadvantaged girls staying in the Sevgi Evleri children's homes. We launched an aid campaign for Afghanistan in cooperation with the Turkish Red Crescent, and we have also taken action to work on establishing a permanent MÜSİAD Village in Syria. Within this scope, our secretary general will travel to Syria in the coming weeks for a preliminary examination. In short, we are continuing to increase our work in business, in trade and in social and cultural terms alike."
