Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır attended the Doblo (K9) production start ceremony held at the TOFAŞ factory in Bursa.
To Minister Kacır; TBMM Industry, Trade, Energy, Natural Resources, Information and Technology Commission Chairman and AK Party Bursa Deputy Mustafa Varank, Bursa Governor Erol Ayyıldız, businessman Rahmi Koç, TOFAŞ CEO Cengiz Eroldu, Koç Holding Chairman Ömer Koç, Stellantis' Middle East and Africa Region Operations Director and Regional President Samir Cherfan, Deputy Mayor of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Şahin Biba, AK Party Bursa Provincial Chairman Davut Gürkan was accompanied by BTSO Chairman Özer Matlı and many guests.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Kacır said, "Industrialization based on competitive production capability, the ability to develop original technologies and trained human resources is the guarantee of a country's development."
'WE MADE Türkiye THE WORLD'S PRODUCTION BASE IN MANY SECTORS'
Minister Kacır stated that with the increasing geopolitical tensions in the world in recent years and rising protectionism in international trade, production capability makes a strong contribution to the strategic independence of countries and determines their position in the global economy. "In the face of this situation, many countries have recently started to take steps to develop their industrial infrastructures, gain competence in critical technologies and maintain their competitive advantages in production.
We have strongly prepared our country for the storms in the global economy with the political and economic stability we have established under the leadership of our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, our planned industrialization model, our policies prioritizing R&D and high value-added production, and our investments in qualified human resources. We increased our added value in the manufacturing industry from 41 billion dollars to over 250 billion dollars and doubled our share in the world. "We have made Türkiye the production base of Europe and the world in many sectors," he said.
'WE INCREASED OUR EXPORTS TO 283 BILLION DOLLARS'
Stating that the export potential in different regions of the world is increasing, Minister Kacır said, "With the new trade bridges we have established all over the world from Europe to Africa, the Middle East to Asia, and the export markets we have diversified, we have increased our annual product exports from 36 billion dollars in 2002 to 283 billion dollars. Today, Turkey is the leading exporter country in terms of product and market diversity in the wide belt extending from China to Central Europe.
Our automotive industry undoubtedly has an exceptional place in our journey to a more prosperous and stronger Türkiye, where we focus on investment, employment, production and exports. Our automotive industry continues to be the pride of the Turkish industry with the added value it creates in both the main industry and the supply chain, the qualified employment it provides and the export volume it reaches. "Our sector achieves new successes every year with the common determination and effort of our workers and entrepreneurs who believe and trust in Türkiye," he said.
'WE SUPPORTED 3 THOUSAND 857 INVESTMENTS WITH OUR INCENTIVES IN 23 YEARS'
Speaking about the automotive sector, Minister Kacır said, "The fact that our Turkish automotive industry renewed the previous year's record by exporting 41.5 billion dollars last year is one of the most concrete indicators of this joint effort and the success we have achieved. As the Ministry of Industry and Technology, we are implementing practices that will increase the production capacity of the sector and support its technology development ability.
As a matter of fact, in the last 23 years, we have supported 3 thousand 857 projects of automotive main and sub-industry companies with a total investment size of 1.6 trillion lira with our investment incentives. We included 7 projects with a total investment size of 61.6 billion lira, carried out by our automotive industry players, in our Investment Commitment Advance Loan Program, which provides financing under favorable conditions for the studies we deem valuable for our National Technology Move.
With our HIT-30 Program's calls for electric vehicle and battery production, we offer a total of 9.5 billion dollars of support to investments that will strengthen our sector's position in global value chains. "In order to develop innovative technology solutions in our country, we supported the projects of 140 companies operating in 202 R&D and design centers and our technoparks in the automotive field," he said.
'IT IS OPENING THE DOORS OF A NEW ERA'
Stating that a total of 33.82 billion liras of resources have been provided in the last 23 years for 3 thousand 278 projects carried out by TUBITAK in automotive technologies and 3 thousand 439 scientists and young people conducting research in this field, Minister Kaçir said, "Today, we are at TOFAŞ facilities, which have been adding value to our country with production, employment and exports for 55 years, on the occasion of an important investment that will support the upward momentum of our country's automotive industry.
These facilities have been the address of firsts and important milestones of the Turkish automotive industry. The legendary Murat 124 model, which started production in 1971, became the turning point of modern automobile production with sheet metal bodies in Türkiye, paving the way for the masses to have access to automobiles. The engineering development processes of the second generation of Fiat Doblo, which started production in 2010 and remained in production for 12 years, which had a major share in the success story of the 2000s with a production of more than 2 million units and an export of nearly 1.5 million, were completely transferred to the TOFAŞ R&D Center, with the efforts of TOFAŞ engineers and the support of TÜBİTAK. This was a great gain for our automotive industry. "K9 Project, which was implemented with an investment of 300 million dollars, opens the doors of a new era in TOFAŞ's production journey," he said.
'TURKEY SHOULD BE SEEN AS A STRATEGIC STAKEHOLDER, NOT A COMPETITION'
Pointing out that investors are offered unhindered access with the Customs Union and free trade agreements, Kacır said, "Turkey is the right address for automotive and mobility investments with its deep-rooted industrial accumulation, strong supply ecosystem, advanced logistics infrastructure and access to large markets. See, with the Customs Union of which we are a member and the free trade agreements we have signed, we offer investors unimpeded access to a population of 1 billion. We have a large domestic market with a population of 86 million.
With the investments we have made in the last 23 years, we have provided our country with a modern and comprehensive transportation network that is unmatched even in many developed countries. In terms of Europe's own interests, it would be the best choice for the European Union to see Türkiye as a strategic stakeholder, not a rival, and to benefit more from our country's production power, in the steps it will take to increase competitiveness in the industry, reduce strategic dependencies and make supply chains more durable. "Our production and trade relations with the European industry, which deepen every year, have today turned into a strategic partnership that connects the economic future of our countries," he said.
'WE WILL INCREASE Türkiye'S OPPORTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES'
Stating that Europe needs to accelerate innovation and increase efficiency in the race with its global competitors, Bakar Kacır said, "The way to do this is to strengthen the integration with Turkey. The way to do this is to effectively benefit from Türkiye's qualified human resources, which is approximately 10 years younger than Europe. We share this fact with our European counterparts at every opportunity, and emphasize that the way to increase Europe's competitiveness is to further deepen the deep-rooted industrial, technology and trade partnership with Turkey."
We hope that our European friends will also act with an understanding based on the strategic opportunities offered by cooperation with Türkiye and our long-term common interests. We will continue to support our entrepreneurs who invest, provide employment, produce and export in Türkiye in any situation. We will never leave our industrialists alone. We will definitely increase the opportunities and opportunities available to Türkiye. We will create new export networks in growing markets. We will make the most of our logistics advantages with the Zengezur Corridor, Development Road and Northern Marmara railway connections, and the opportunities in energy with renewable energy and nuclear investments. We will further increase our R&D expenditures, which we have increased 17-fold in 23 years.
We will continue to prepare the Turkish automotive industry for electric vehicles, driverless vehicles and sharing economy revolutions. While the share of traditional components in added value is decreasing; Aware that the shares of elements such as autonomous and electric vehicle components, artificial intelligence, data connection services and software are increasing, we will offer strong support and incentives to investments that will increase the added value of our sector. We will accelerate the green transformation and reduce emissions while rejuvenating the age of our vehicle fleet. "With the measures we will take, we will further expand our production and fleet and ensure that our market exceeds 2 million annually," he said.
