Tüpraş 2011 exports champ

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan addresses audiences at the Champions of Exports event in Ankara. AA photo

Türkiye Petrol Rafinerileri AŞ (Tüpraş), Turkey’s largest oil refiner, was crowned yesterday as Turkey’s largest exports firm, while car makers dominated the top 10 list of exporter companies.

The company exported 5.2 million tons of petroleum products last year.

An award ceremony was held yesterday to announce the top exporters, attended by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan and Turkey’s Exporter’s Assembly President Mehmet Büyükekşi.

Car makers Ford and Oyak Renault followed Tüpraş. Tofaş Türk Otomotiv, Italian automotive giant Fiat’s local partner, was in fourth place, right after Vestel Dış Ticaret, one of Turkey’s leading durable consumer goods producers under Zorlu Holding. Tüpraş is a subsidiary of Koç holding, one of the largest conglomerates in Turkey.

Arçelik, a durable consumer goods producer under Koç Holding, took the sixth spot.

Toyota Otomotiv took the seventh place, followed by Kibar Dış Ticaret, which is part of Kibar Group. The group exports the products of a number of private and state industrial enterprises and also imports raw materials for them, according to the firm’s official web site. Habaş, an industrial gas producer and İçdaş Çelik Sanayi, a steel producer, came in ninth and tenth respectively.

Incentive scheme

“Nine years ago the world trade volume increased nearly 2.7 fold to reach $18.3 trillion, while our exports increased nearly 4 fold to $135 billion thanks to our prime minister, our ministry and exporters. Turkey’s share in world trade rose to 0.75 percent from 0.50 percent nine years ago,” Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan said at the award ceremony.

Increasing exports even further requires changing the product range, high technology, innovation, high value added and branded products, he said.

Noting that the government had carved out a sweeping incentives scheme to pave the way for producing and exporting high value added and high technology products, Çağlayan said, “The incentive scheme is on the parliament’s agenda. God willing it will be approved this week.”

Competition in world markets had become even more robust following the three fold increase in exports in nine years, said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. “We have to find new channels, new methods, new opportunities,” he said.

As for the government, Erdoğan said visa exemptions for Turkish businessmen was the first subject he discussed with foreign heads of states or prime ministers to clear the way for businesses to access foreign markets.

“Our priorities [in realizing visa exemptions] are businessmen, academics, athletes,” he said.
The TİM represents 55,000 exporters, said Mehmet Büyükekşi, noting that the TİM’s “2023 Exports Strategy” envisaged $500 billion worth of exports, a trade volume of $1.1 trillion, and a 1.5 percent share in the world trade volume.