Erdo?an calls for deeper economic ties at Türkiye-Italy Business Forum

Within the framework of an official visit to Italy, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an participated in the Türkiye-Italy Business Forum organized by the Ministry of Trade, the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DE?K), the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Italian Trade Agency. President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an thanked Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for her kind hospitality.

President Erdo?an delivered a speech at the Forum and stated that the intergovernmental summit mechanism, the first of which was held in Türkiye in 2008, contributed to significant progress in the economy as well as in the multidimensional political relations between the countries.

He emphasized that the initiatives of business people played a major role in this success. President Erdo?an added that they wholeheartedly believed that this partnership would be taken to even higher levels in the coming period.

Erdo?an, pointed out that the world going through a period where more protectionism in the economy and closure within borders are being discussed, continued his words as follows:
"We are all following the mutual showdowns over customs tariffs. We are trying to manage this dynamic atmosphere successfully for our country's economy and even turn it into an opportunity. We have come through similar processes in the past, especially the coronavirus pandemic, without any damage. We believe that we will demonstrate the same success today and trust in the Turkish economy.

Due to our geographical location that connects the West and the East, the North and the South, we attach great importance to establishing effective economic and commercial partnerships in our region and the world. I would like to state this with great pleasure today: the Turkish economy continues to grow despite the conflicts, wars in our region, and the earthquake that we experienced in 2023, which was the disaster of the century. The direct cost of the earthquake to the Turkish economy is 104 billion dollars, while its indirect cost is 150 billion dollars. Despite this, we are rapidly healing our wounds."

President Erdo?an stated that Turkiye is moving forward with firm steps towards its goals in the economy, production, employment, investment, tourism, and the defense industry.

Erdo?an, noting that they have delivered the keys of more than 201 thousand houses to citizens whose houses were destroyed in the period since the earthquake, announced that 252 thousand more houses will be built by the end of the year.

Erdo?an emphasized that while they were erasing the traces of the disaster of the century, they were also continuing the breakthroughs in the economy without slowing down, and made the following assessments:

"In 2024, we broke the record of the last 100 years with 262 billion dollars in exports. Our defense industry exports, one of the strongest sectors of our country, reached the highest level in history with 7 billion 154 million dollars. We are one of the few countries that have achieved an annual growth rate of around 5 percent in the last 20 years. Again, we have invested nearly 300 billion dollars in infrastructure in the last 20 years.

Our exports have increased more than 20 times in 20 years. We have doubled our share of world exports. We have attracted nearly 270 billion dollars of international direct investment in the last 20 years. The number of foreign-capital companies in Türkiye has increased from 6,000 to over 80,000. We have entered a permanent and significant decline in inflation that affects the entire world. We are implementing our economic program with determination. God willing, we will not back down from this. We are determined to improve the investment environment and implement new structural reforms."

President Erdo?an stated that when they look at Italy specifically, they see that bilateral trade has been on a constant increase since the Covid-19 outbreak, despite all the global challenges.

Erdo?an explained that the trade volume, which was at 17.3 billion dollars in 2020, will almost double in 2024 and exceed 32 billion dollars, and said:
"Today, Italian capital in Türkiye, including indirect sources, has reached 5 billion dollars, while Turkish capital in Italy has made significant progress in recent years, approaching 1 billion dollars. Just as Turkish companies see Italy as a gateway to the European market, we would like Italian companies to consider Türkiye as a gateway to Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

A population of 2 billion can be reached in just a few hours' flight from Istanbul. Our Turkish Airlines also connects 9 cities in Italy to Istanbul. This tremendous potential of trade, investment, and transportation opportunities encourages us to set big and ambitious goals. With this in mind, we determined our new trade volume target as 40 billion dollars with Mr. Meloni at today's summit. The meetings of our business circles today and the new partnerships they will establish will contribute to reaching our new trade target in a short time. Of course, increasing mutual investments continues to be another priority goal of ours."

Expressing that they want to see more investors in addition to the existing 1,500 Italian companies in Türkiye, which has become a center of attraction in its region and the world, Erdo?an said, "We believe that it will be in our interest to increase our joint efforts in order to get our share of the expected expansion in the security and defense sector, especially in Europe."

President Erdo?an drew attention to the need to develop strategic partnerships in areas such as green energy, digital technologies, smart cities, and space, and noted the following:
"Dear friends, as governments, we will continue to support our companies in order to reach higher levels of trade and investment relations. However, as you will appreciate, economic cooperation does not develop solely through the efforts of governments. Our business world needs to do its part at this point. Those who will truly develop cooperation are primarily you.

We have removed the obstacles and continue to do so. We have always been encouraging and will continue to be so. We expect our business circles to proceed with determination on the paths we have opened. I would like to express my gratitude to the Italian government once again for this encouragement and interest in our businessmen through Prime Minister Meloni. I would like you to know that my door and that of my fellow ministers will be wide open in the face of any problem. Our Presidential Investment Office is always at your service. I have no doubt that my valuable friend Meloni will provide the same convenience."

Underlining the importance of the 3rd Term Meeting of the Türkiye-Italy Joint Committee on Economy and Trade to be held before the end of 2025, Erdo?an said, "We feel the need to update our Customs Union with the European Union in line with the changing global economic conditions in order for our trade and economic relations to reach their potential."

Underlining that they expect the support of the Italian government and the business community for an update that will benefit both parties with a win-win approach, Erdo?an said, "On the other hand, we see that the difficulties our business community is experiencing regarding visas are hindering our economic relations. I believe that it would be in the interest of both parties if the Italian business community brought this issue to the agenda of the European Union institutions. In closing, I believe that today's business forum will be instrumental in new initiatives and strong partnerships."