Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB Turkey Transportation and Logistics Council President Çetin Nuhoğlu stated that transportation policy had been made state policy at the start of the 50’s. Emphasizing that world trade is growing, Nuhoğlu said, “New players are emerging, the world’s production centers are shifting and in addition to this, for truly succeeding in the movement of goods, logistics is paramount.”

Stating that logistics give quite precise indicators of where economy is headed, Nuhoğlu said that there are very exact data concerning land transportation which provide important information regarding the movement of goods and the growth of trade.

Çetin Nuhoğlu emphasized that logistics slow down during crises and pick up once economy starts to progress.

- Relations with transit countries

Emphasizing that Iraq and Syria are gateways to the Middle East, Nuhoğlu said, “When we have problems with these two countries, acting as transit countries, we inevitably lose not just that the trade with that country but the ones behind it as well. Through Iran we access the Middle East and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. If we encounter trouble there, our trade will suffer.”

Deploring the state of trade through Bulgaria and Romania due to the limitations imposed by those countries Nuhoğlu stated the importance of Russia as a trade partner.

- Importance of logistics villages

Touching on the subject of logistics villages, Nuhoğlu said, “All over the world, especially in production centers, logistics centers in proximity as well as integrated solutions have been suggested. A location connecting airports, railways and movement of goods.”

In just İstanbul, there are 8,000 storage depots, Nuhoğlu said, and as per the principle tenet of logistics villages, the movement of these goods could be consolidated cutting down the number of vehicles need to carry said goods.

“We have a Logistics Base in Ankara, completed in 13 months, an exemplary piece of work. I know that we needed to gain permission from over 400 institutions. Perhaps the primary necessity of strategic policy and transportation policy is the simplification of this process.”

- Problems of the sector and solutions

Stating that the sector council is hard at work, Nuhoğlu went on to say that they convened on a grand scale last year and reviewed both the assembly and the problems present in the sector.

Focusing on several issues like the railroads, post law and customs, Nuhoğlu outlined the issues arising in these fields as well as the precautions taken in order to address them.