The machinery industry was one of the three segments of Turkish industry with the highest increase in exports in 2018.
It increased its exports by 15 percent in 2018 and reached $17.1 billion, according to Kutlu Karavelioğlu, chairman of the Machinery Exporters' Association (MAİB).
"We are one of two countries with China with the highest increase in their machinery exports. Such a high rate of increase in the technology-centered industry is not an accomplishment that you could frequently witness. We aim to double our exports in five years while maintaining our annual growth rate of 15 percent and reaching $34 billion by 2023," Karavelioğlu said in a statement on Friday.
Accounting for 10.1 percent of Turkey's total exports, the machinery industry raised the ratio of exports meeting imports to 64 percent. The industry exports 60 percent of its products to the European Union and the U.S., and its average unit prices per kilogram increased to $6.1.
Noting that the value of 323,000 tons of increase in machinery exports in 2018 was $2.3 billion, Karavelioğlu said they surpassed the global increase in machinery exports fourfold in 2018.
"We have increased our machinery exports tenfold since 2001. We minimized the adverse effects of economic fluctuations as a result of our endeavors last year. Relying on our technological advantages, we prevented importers from turning exchange rate fluctuations into an opportunity and maintained the reputation of Turkish machinery brands without cutting our unit prices. We will further enhance the brand perception of our machinery through our innovations in advanced technology and innovation."
Stating that countries that continue to import machinery to meet their demand will remain behind other countries, Karavelioğlu said technology wars were behind the global trade wars:
"People need to get out of old habits at a time when the cost of resources is rising throughout the world. The Turkish industry should now start a new chapter and entirely leave the practice of importing machinery by using loans in foreign currencies. We think that it is not appropriate for our country to have a trade deficit of $10 billion as a consequence of machinery imports when the machinery industry managed to bring its share of the global market to 1.9 percent," he said.
