A Türkiye Consultation Meeting with the main theme “The Logistics Sector and Future Trends with a Focus on Sustainability was held by the Logistics Sector Board of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD) at the İzmir Balçova Thermal Hotel. Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, our MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı, İzmir Governor Süleyman Elban and AK Party İzmir Metropolitan Mayoral Candidate Hamza Dağ attended the opening session of the Türkiye Consultation Meeting with the main theme "The Logistics Sector and Future Trends with a Focus on Sustainability".
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, who attended the Türkiye Consultation Meeting organized by the MÜSİAD Logistics Sector Board, stated the following in his speech:
"We will have serious developments in air transport, but rail will develop at very large rates in both freight and passengers. We will make our investment accordingly. An aircraft passes through our country every 15 seconds. We are in such a geography and we have air transport agreements with 173 countries. Right now we are a country making direct flights to 143 destinations in 130 countries. In 2023, approximately 84 thousand ships passed through the İstanbul and Çanakkale straits. This means nearly 40 thousand ships through each strait. Within a 4-hour flight distance we can reach 67 countries. And 1.4 billion people live in these 67 countries. They have a gross national product of 40 trillion dollars. There is also 8 trillion dollars of trade potential. If you show it to someone who does not know the geography map and ask 'which is the most critical place, the most strategic place', they could show you that it is Türkiye. We are located on such a precious geography."
Projects are at the completion stage
Uraloğlu pointed out that trade generally develops on the east-west axis, and that very serious developments have also been taking place recently on the north-south axis.
Conveying that they planned the Development Road Corridor, which comprises 1,200 kilometres of motorway, railway, energy transmission and communication lines from the Persian Gulf to Ovaköy, by foreseeing this development in advance, Uraloğlu said: "If we had finished it today, the troubles in the Suez Canal would not have been discussed and we would have provided this transport in only 21 days. The projects are at the completion stage. We are striving to see whether we can start within this year."
Emphasizing that the Turkish economy showed great resilience by growing 4 percent in the first quarter of the year despite the earthquake, our MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı stated the following:
"Again, in the second quarter of last year, which as you know was also a period when the general elections were held, it sustained this performance, grew by 3.9 percent and diverged positively among global economies. Finally, the Turkish economy, which grew by 5.9 percent in the 3rd quarter of the year, also managed to be the second fastest-growing country among the G20 countries in this period. At such a time when our country, together with leading economies, is confronting the problem of inflation and is in a process of monetary tightening, the acceleration of the growth rate of the Turkish economy is a development that deserves appreciation," he said.
Our country, by virtue of its geographical location, is in an advantageous position in logistics, and at the same time makes a great contribution to the development of the logistics sector in terms of its capacity to adapt to technology.
Despite the downward trend in the global economy and the weak performance observed in the logistics sector, the realization of transport revenues at the level of 34.9 billion dollars in 2023 reveals the importance of the investments our country has made in transport services, particularly over the last 20 years.
The importance of the transport sector
Again in 2023, the rise of passenger revenues to 20 billion dollars and travel revenues to 47.7 billion dollars draws attention as an output of long-term transport and infrastructure policies.
In 2024, recovery expectations for global trade will be one of the most important factors that can balance the downside risks concerning the logistics sector. Global trade volume, which is estimated to increase by an average of %3.5 annually in 2024 and 2025, contains important opportunities for strengthening our country's position in the international arena in the logistics sector.
In parallel with the developments in question, the 12th Development Plan also emphasizes that, in addition to expanding Türkiye’s logistics capacity, efforts to increase the effectiveness and diversity of the transport corridors it is part of will continue. In this way, the increase in our country’s exports of goods and services will rise to higher levels in the Century of Türkiye we are in.
AK Party İzmir Metropolitan Mayoral Candidate Hamza Dağ: He said that İzmir has been a meeting point of civilizations throughout history and a city that has come to the fore as a centre of trade and culture.
Reporting that their greatest desire is to raise İzmir's unique potential to the highest level and to make the city even more liveable, Dağ said, " We aim to develop our İzmir with a modern understanding of municipal governance while preserving its history, culture and natural beauties. By strengthening our cooperation with the business world, we will turn İzmir into an investment paradise."
MÜSİAD Logistics Sector Board Chairman Mehmet Metin Korkmaz, for his part, said in his speech:
“If we are to assess 2023; the logistics sector, which is directly or indirectly affected by many economic, political, cultural and other developments taking place in the world, once again overcame many changes in 2023 with its sectoral flexibility and became one of the biggest players of change. In order to analyse the situation of the sector in 2023, it will be useful to evaluate many national as well as international events.
While the effects of the major earthquake disaster experienced in our country and the long general and local election process came to the fore, elements such as Israel’s barbaric attacks on Gaza in the geographies close to our country and the still ongoing Russia-Ukraine War, the attacks of the Houthi forces in Yemen on commercial ships, the China-Taiwan-USA tension, and the tightening and slowdown in the global economy stand out. The international goods transport sector, which is at the forefront among the service sectors, undertakes very important duties in the realization of export targets towards other countries by land, air, sea and rail.
In order for the sector to be able to fulfil the duties in question, rapid adaptation in business models and especially the ability to implement digitalization processes are of importance. As a result of the new opportunities offered by developing technological possibilities and enterprises’ efforts for competitive advantage, digitalization has gained speed in the production and logistics sectors as well. The steadily developing e-commerce sector is increasing the need for advanced logistics systems. The global e-commerce market volume is expected to increase more than sixfold in ten years and to reach 781 billion US dollars by the end of 2024. In order for Türkiye to take its share of this increasing trade volume, in addition to the regulations and incentives already made, the obstacles to the further development of the sector must be removed and the necessary measures must be taken,” he said.
