The From Ore to Machine'25 Summit, organized in cooperation between the Machinery Sector Board of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD) and the MÜSİAD Chemicals, Metal and Mining Sector Board, took place at the MÜSİAD Head Office.
The summit, organized with the participation of Chairman of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Committee on Industry, Trade, Energy, Natural Resources, Information and Technology Mustafa Varank, MÜSİAD Vice President Burhan Özdemir, Tosyalı Holding Chairman of the Board Fuat Tosyalı, TEİ General Manager Prof. Dr. Mahmut Faruk Akşit, MÜSİAD Machinery Sector Board Chairman İsmail Somalı and MÜSİAD Chemicals, Metal and Mining Sector Board Chairman Muhittin Can, hosted important names and topics.
Speaking at the summit, which began with opening speeches, Mustafa Varank said that the target of the boycott campaigns launched within the scope of the corruption investigation conducted into the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) was investment, employment, and domestic and national production.
Stating that CHP Chairman Özgür Özel had irresponsibly and unconsciously placed domestic and national brands in the crosshairs by naming names, Varank said, "They can declare as enemies those who do not take part in boycotts whose reasons they themselves do not even know, they can threaten those who do not think like them, they can lynch them. They are not even aware of why the companies on their own lists are on that list."
Conveying that the global economy is facing great challenges, Varank said that developments such as technological advances, alternative formations in the supply chain, supply security problems, regional conflicts and climate change have made the economy more fragile.
Drawing attention to the customs tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, Mustafa Varank emphasized that risks have now increased further and that predictability has decreased.
Stating that Türkiye has also been affected by these negative developments experienced at the global level, Varank continued his remarks as follows:
"Despite this, the successes we have achieved under the leadership of our manufacturing industry also stand before us as a reality. Despite all the challenges and difficulties, Türkiye became one of the two fastest-growing economies among OECD countries in 2024. Until now we have written Türkiye's success story in solidarity with our private sector and by acting together. I sincerely believe that, thanks to our new economic policies and your entrepreneurial spirit, we will once again overcome the difficulties and challenges all together."
MÜSİAD Vice President Burhan Özdemir, for his part, emphasized the importance of integration, efficiency and innovation in the process of transforming ore into machinery, saying, "However much the industrialist and the producer may wish to use these concepts, the industrial policy or the policy strategy of the ecosystem they are in is at least as important as these concepts."
Underlining that they owe to the national policy strategy their full and confident use today of mottos such as "domestic and national production" and the "National Production Initiative", Özdemir reported that, as MÜSİAD, they have always supported this strategy.
Özdemir said, "Yes, we may have missed the last century or two, but everyone knows that our country is coming on strong. The road ahead of us is open, our belief is complete."
MÜSİAD Chemicals, Metal and Mining Sector Board Chairman Muhittin Can, for his part, stated that the summit they had been working on for a long time brought together the two lifelines of industry, saying, "Today we have come together to speak not only about a sector, but at the same time about a country's economic independence, industrial power and strategic vision."
Pointing out that the raw materials sector has come to the fore as a strategic backbone in this period, in which the concepts of "reliable source" and "sustainable production" have gained importance, Can said, "Because we know that if a country has steel it has production, if it has aluminium it has mobility, and the mineral riches it possesses, from nickel to copper, are the cornerstone of its industrial policies."
Emphasizing that as the raw materials sector they are on the threshold of a transformation, Can completed his remarks as follows:
"We must not merely extract our natural resources; we must integrate these resources with knowledge, technology and advanced processing capability. We must strengthen domestic production, reduce foreign dependency in strategic minerals and make our integrated industrial structures more resilient. At the same time, sustainability is no longer an option but a necessity. In a world where the carbon footprint is monitored, we do not have the luxury of missing the green transformation. Increasing investment in recycling technologies, environmentally friendly production processes and digitalization is the precondition for preparing our sector for the future."
MÜSİAD Machinery Sector Board Chairman İsmail Somalı, for his part, stated that the machinery sector is among the most strategic building blocks of the Turkish economy, saying, "One of the indispensable elements of full independence in production is our domestic and national machinery production capability in production technologies. To be strong at the table, we must be strong in the field. But in order to be strong in the field, we must be a pioneer in domestic and national machinery technologies."
Recalling that the machinery sector broke the all-time record with an export figure of USD 28.3 billion in 2024, Somalı made the following statements:
"Germany and the United States are among the leading countries to which we export the most, which clearly demonstrates the confidence in Turkish machinery in the global market. Our sector is proceeding along its road with confident steps, with its investment capability, its production power, its export success and its development vision. However, we know that in order to make success sustainable on this journey, we must place innovation, the twin transformation, clustering, efficiency and the advantages of economies of scale at the centre."
Tosyalı Holding Chairman of the Board Fuat Tosyalı, who attended the summit, said regarding the customs tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, "It may be gratifying that lower tariffs are applied to Türkiye compared with other countries, but this must not lead us into complacency. Because the tariffs applied to other countries will greatly affect our trade both at home and in export markets."
Speaking about the global problems experienced in recent years, Fuat Tosyalı said that uncertainties in economic, social and political conditions continue.
Recalling that global trade increased by 3.7 percent last year to reach a record level of USD 33 trillion, Tosyalı explained that sufficient expansion could not be achieved in global growth and that the constant change in conditions causes continuous uncertainty in the medium and long term.
Noting that Türkiye and other countries have been unable to reflect their potential in recent years, Tosyalı emphasized that there has been no positive development in Ukraine and that a solution still cannot be produced regarding Gaza.
Fuat Tosyalı said, "The presentation as a solution of things that cannot even be imagined regarding Gaza continues to grieve the conscience of humanity."
In the 1st Session held subsequently, the current situation of the sector and its future projections were laid on the table under the title “The Focus of the Turkish Machinery and Raw Materials Sector”. In the session moderated by Marmara University Faculty of Technology Lecturer Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayhan Etyemez, Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters' Association Chairman of the Board Baran Çelik, Teknopark İstanbul Board Member Dr. Mehmet Akif Özyurt and MÜSİAD Sector Boards Commission Vice Chairman Altuğ Karataş took part as panellists. In the session, increasing the competitiveness of the machinery sector and the opportunities in the raw materials supply chain were addressed.
After a short break, TEI General Manager Prof. Dr. Mahmut Faruk Akşit addressed the participants with his presentation titled “The Importance of Domestic and National Machinery and Raw Material Technologies in Aviation”. Emphasizing the point Türkiye has reached in aviation and the localization efforts in this field, Akşit drew attention to the strategic importance of the national technology initiative.
In the 2nd Session of the summit, developments in the fields of the economy and industry were assessed under the title “Investment, Production, Exports and Development”. In the session moderated by Ekonomi Newspaper Chairman of the Board Hakan Güldağ, İTÜ Rector Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, MAİB Deputy Chairman of the Board Kutlu Karavelioğlu and MAKFED Secretary General Zühtü Bakır took the floor.
With the presentation of gifts and the taking of a commemorative photograph at the end of the day, the “From Ore to Machine’25” Summit came to a successful conclusion.
