Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

“Target Market USA Summit” was held at TOBB Twin Towers with the participation of Trade Minister Ömer Bolat. In his speech here, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they aim to improve trade between Türkiye and the USA.

Reminding that the first center was opened in Chicago in the USA in 2021 within the scope of the TOBB Trade Centers (TTM) Project, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “TOBB Chicago Trade Center has achieved great success as the strategic partner of Turkish companies in the US market. ‘TTM Chicago’ offers a wide range of solutions from logistics to after-sales services, from marketing to supply chain management.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that at the center in Chicago, they serve 100 members operating in 17 fields, especially in the automotive, construction materials, textile, furniture and food sectors.

Emphasizing that the USA offers unique opportunities for the Turkish business world in various sectors such as technology, health, energy, agriculture and construction, Hisarcıklıoğlu continued as follows:

“In the new period, the US administration is expected to place more emphasis on production-oriented growth in global trade. In this context, new collaborations and market opportunities may arise for Türkiye, which has dynamic production capacities. The US administration’s policies towards infrastructure investments and diversification of local production and international supply chains may enable Turkish companies to have a stronger presence in this market. We believe that we can further strengthen the position of Turkish industrial products in the US market in terms of quality and competitiveness.”

- Aim to establish new trade centers in the US

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that exports to the US will not only contribute to economic growth, but will also increase the global recognition of Turkish brands.

Hisarcıklıoğlu informed that exports to the US have increased by 46 percent in the last 5 years and reached 14.8 billion dollars and said, “Although this rate of increase is very valuable, our total share in US imports is still below 5 per 1,000. This shows that we still have a lot of work to do. TTM Chicago offers Turkish companies the opportunity to gain an effective place in the US market and utilize their competitive advantages in this market.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the trade volume between the two countries is at the level of 30 billion dollars, but he sees the 100 billion dollar trade volume target set by the governments as an achievable vision and said:

“In order to achieve this goal, we plan to increase technology and service exports, to establish new sector-oriented logistics centers and to bring more Turkish companies to the US market. We are continuing our efforts to carry the success of TTM Chicago to other US states and different regions of the American continent. For example, after Chicago, we aim to establish new centers in strategic cities such as Los Angeles and New York to enable Turkish companies to reach every corner of the US.”

- Trade Minister Ömer Bolat

Trade Minister Ömer Bolat also stated that they hope that Türkiye-US economy and trade relations will accelerate starting from 2025 and said, “We hope that Türkiye-US relations will continue in the coming period after the new administration takes over the government on January 20. We want to continue the momentum we achieved in 2024 in 2025.”

Speaking at the Target Market USA Summit, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said that trade between Türkiye and the US has increased in the last 5 years. Stating that the world economy is following a mixed course, Bolat noted that the growth rate on the US side is going relatively well.

Bolat reminded that the average growth rate of the European Union was 0.6 percent last year, and reported that the estimates for this year are around 0.6-0.7 percent.

Speaking about Türkiye’s growth data, Bolat said, “Even in the period that started with the pandemic, Türkiye’s economy showed growth success. Our national income rose to 1 trillion 130 billion dollars last year. Our national income per capita rose to 13,243 dollars. We are pleased to see a moderate growth in our economy this year as well.”

Bolat pointed out that according to the recently announced growth data, Türkiye has been growing for the last 17 quarters, and stated that this is an important achievement compared to Europe, the USA and other regions.

Bolat said that exports have increased more than 7 times in the last 22 years, and noted the following:

“We managed to achieve pleasing figures on the foreign trade deficit and current account deficit, which we have always known as the soft underbelly of our economy. This year, in 12 months, the foreign trade deficit decreased by 30.6 billion dollars to 79.3 billion dollars. Whenever there was talk about the economy, there was a discourse that ‘the biggest problem of our economy is the current account deficit, because we cannot finance investments with our own savings, we have to run a current account deficit’. This year we have come to this point in the current account deficit, the current account deficit in 10 months is only 3.3 billion dollars. What is more pleasing is that for the last 5 months in a row, our current account has given a surplus.”

At the end of the program, successful members doing business with the USA were presented with awards.