Türkiye to invest $21.6 bln in maritime sector by 2053: Minister

ISTANBUL

Türkiye will invest $21.6 billion more in its maritime sector by 2053, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu has said.

Those investments will contribute around $180 billion to the Turkish economy, the minister added.

“Our contribution to production will be $300 billion, while adding 5 million jobs over the next 30 years,” said Karaismailoğlu, recalling that total investments in the country’s infrastructure and communications will amount to $198 billion in the next three decades.

Some 93 percent of imported goods and 81 percent of exports in Türkiye were transported by ships in 2021, the minister said, noting that the Turkish fleet ranks 15th in the world with a total of 31.3 million deadweight tonnage.

“We are expecting the deadweight tonnage to increase to 36 million at the end of the year, which will help Türkiye climb up in the ranking to the 14th spot.”

The number of shipyards in the country increased from 37 in 2022 to 84, while the number of ports rose from 149 to 217, Karaismailoğlu said.

Despite the challenges from the pandemic, the Turkish maritime sector continued to grow in 2020 and 2021, according to the minister.

“While global container handling and total cargo handling contracted 1.2 percent and 3.8 percent, the number of containers handled at the Turkish ports increased by 8.3 percent from a year ago to 12.6 million TEU last year. Total cargo handled also grew 6 percent to 526 million tons.”

From January to October, cargo handling at the Turkish ports increased by 5 percent on an annual basis and total cargo handling is expected to reach 545 million tons at the end of this year, Karaismailoğlu said.