This is the last report of the year. That’s why today I want to emphasize further the beautiful treasures we got as a nation rather than discussing Turkey’s economic conditions just like I dı every single day.
Turkey was among the countries that have managed to gather strength quickly and maintain an increasing growth trend through the quarters following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Maybe the driving force behind this good performance was the fact that financial system and exports were working like a clockwise simultaneously, which is mainly owed to an experience that Turkey has faced at the beginning of the century.
Turkey had gone through a unique financial crisis in 2001 and managed to overcome it by consolidating Banks and Non-Bank Financial Institutions. Turkey’s success resulted in many global financial institutions to seek partnerships with Turkish banks. Almost half of the private banks in Turkey today are walking towards future with strong partnerships.
On the hand, there are many firms in Turkey operating in various sectors from automotive to high tech that are established through foreign direct investment as well as international partnerships dating back to 1980s formed with Turkey’s leading companies, which almost always rank among the Turkey’s top exporting companies with an export volume of 200 billion USD.
Now, a quick look at exports: Turkey is planning to take a share of 1.5% from World Trade in 2023 whereas today Turkey has an export potential of 350 billion USD with its existing sectors. A total investment of 100-150 billion USD involvingaeronautics and space, nanotechnology, high-sensitive optical and medical equipment, material technology, healthcare equipment, communication technologies and software is also expect to performed by Turkey. In short, Turkey is ready for receive further investments and the government incentives are designed accordingly.
In 2050, Turkey will become a significant business centre available for new investments with its high-quality workforce and the youngest population among its neighbouring countries.
Perhaps this is the reason why Turkish construction and education sectors keep on rising together. According to the latest REIDIN indices, any person in Turkey who has invested in real estate for the last two years has earned more money than s/he would ever did if s/he invested in other financial instruments, including stock market and gold, which is expected to last until 2050 or longer. Or at least, this is what the calculations can show so far.However, I’m more focused on Turkish companies’ international operations, through which they rank second after China with billions dollars to undertake new projects.
Education stands out as another investable sector in Turkey. Istanbul alone is home to more than 40 universities. Every year, millions of students take the higher education antrance exams to get into Universities based in Istanbul and Turkey. Also, there is huge level of international demand for getting a higher education in Turkey. This year, 1.6 million students have applied for admission. The fact that Turkey has the largest young population compared to many other countries in the world is like a shining beacon of hope for our future.
In conclusion, Turkey’s growth potential is projected to remain above 4% in the next 25 years. I think it is an easily achievable rate provided that we can establish a strong cooperation between Public and Private Sectors. From this point of view, it seems to me that it is very possible for total value of stock trading in Istanbul Stock Exchange can double the total GNP. The more global investments increase, the more thriving Turkey’s economy will become. This obviously means more prosperity for foreign partnerships, and both for countries in the region and the world.
“Turkey has a bright future ahead…”
Usually, academics criticise their countries of citizenship. I know I’m one of those. And you know why? Because, I believe the country will be touched by evil eye if I praise it too much. Besides, Turkey also needs people to attract notice to negative things as the politicians always make citizens to see the brighter side of things.
But I always say to everyone, “Turkey has a bright future ahead…” for a couple of reasons. First, Turkish people are capable of easily adapting to different circumstances. Therefore, there’s no need to take an entirely positive or negative approach to things.
Secondly, Turkish people tend to forget things in the long run even though they about it a lot in a short period of time. This is not a problem about memory because they don’t even keep things that happened in mind. I’m talking about a nation that doesn’t like to focus on the negative, always looking at the future instead. 56% of Turks answered that they believe Turkey will create a bright future to a survey question “What do you think the future will be like?” while a significant part of the survey participants said, “We don’t care”.
The third reason is Turkish people’s strength to overcome difficulties. Over the course of history, Turks have always known how to get out of bad situations without a scratch, so terrible situations that if they were faced by any other country, those countries would be collapsed by now. After seeing OECD’s July 2018 report, I was once again convinced that that this ability to get out of terrible situations without getting hurt how perfectly applies to Turkish business world.
And the fourth reason is that Ataturk’s Republic has some strong foundations. If it didn’t, Turkey would be no different that Middle Eastern countries today. Therefore, Turkey knows where it belongs but uses wrong instruments to tell it to the world. Turkish people are neither Asian nor Middle Eastern. They are Europeans but in their “own style”.
In this last report of the year, I wanted to take a different approach to things. We, as a whole nation, should avoid sinking into pessimism! Situation in Turkey may be a bit foggy today but a bright future lies ahead. But first, we should learn once again to stick to the basics: the foundation principles of the Republic of Turkey.
I wish you all a very Happy New Year!
