Glass maker Şişecam crowned ‘top exporter’

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Deputy PM (C) Babacan attends the ceremony of Top Exporter of the Year 2012. Company photo

Glass producer Şişecam has received its award for being Turkey’s “Top Exporter of the Year 2012,” at a ceremony organized daily Dünya and DHL Express, sponsored by Akbank and Vodafone.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan handed the award to Şişecam Group Representative Chairman and CEO Ahmet Kırman on May 7. This year marks the 11th year of the award, which aims to encourage Turkish exports.

Speaking at the ceremony, Babacan said Turkey’s recent export boom was a result of the composition of export policies. The free trade agreements and the lifting of visa requirements with many countries, newly opened embassies and trade consultancies, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) offices, and the rising number of Turkish Airlines flights, all supported by Eximbank’s support for this scheme, are all important elements, he said. “Turkey’s Exporters Council Chairman Mehmet Büyükekşi’s status as board member of both Eximbank and Turkish Airlines is also a strategic step.”

However Büyükekşi, also one of the participants of the ceremony, asking for more government support for exporters. “We want more positive discrimination for exports. In order to ensure the sustainable growth of exports, competition circumstances should be rehabilitated,” he said.

The companies that raised their exports most over the year were also rewarded during the ceremony.

Borusan İstiklal Ticaret, TAŞ Birgi Birleşik Giyim İhracatçıları Dış Ticaret, and TGS Dış Ticaret received the “Export Performance Award.”

Akbank will not charge the awarded companies for their export transactions and they will be able to benefit from various Vodafone initiatives.