Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) President Şekib Avdagiç said that besides Istanbul Airport's contribution to passenger traffic, it has transformed Istanbul into a central distribution point for e-commerce giants such as Alibaba and Amazon.
Meeting with members of the press at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) held in Barcelona, Avdagic answered the journalists' questions about the agenda. Saying that ITO has been organizing the national participation in this fair since 2012, Avdagic said that they are working on bringing at least one version of this fair to the Istanbul World Trade Center in a few years. Avdagic said, “If we can do this in a reasonable time, we will have brought another serious fair to Istanbul.” said.
“WE HAVE TO CONTINUE THE JOBS WE STARTED”
Avdagic gave the following answer to the question whether a journalist will be a candidate for the ITO Presidency again in the Chamber elections, which is expected to be held this year:
“We have made the necessary consultations on this issue, and we have started our work for the next period. If the Istanbul business world deems us worthy of the ITO presidency again, we will continue on the road together with our friends with whom we have walked so far. Of course, this is not a personal issue, it is a team work and there is a line we have come so far. Together with our teams in this line, we intend to carry out our work again in a way that will embrace the entire business world of Istanbul and continue the work we have started.”
“E-COMMERCE GIANTS CHOOSES ISTANBUL AS THE DISTRIBUTION CENTER”
Emphasizing that the biggest revolution Istanbul Airport has made is making Istanbul a center in international goods distribution, Şekib Avdagiç said, “Alibaba chose Istanbul as the first worldwide distribution center after China. Amazon also chose Istanbul. Because you have a network that can distribute to approximately 250 international points from Istanbul. This is not found anywhere else in Europe. Our closest competitor is at 130, staying at 140. That's why they came here. THY's new cargo center opened. Yeşilköy was completely closed 15 days ago, and now, a cargo center of THY Cargo with an area of 183 thousand square meters has been activated. It is a system that works entirely with artificial intelligence. I would like to express my gratitude to our President, who has put his will on this issue. It was a huge vision.” made its assessment.
“WE NEED TO ATTENTION TO TECHNOLOGY EXPORT AND E-EXPORT”
Evaluating Turkey's high technology exports, ITO President Avdagiç said that the share of high technology in total exports in Turkey is 3,5 percent and that while medium technology exports increase, there is no expected increase in high technology. Underlining that Turkey should attach importance to technology exports and e-exports, Avdagic said, “Our e-exports reached 2021 billion 1 million dollars in 460. We are working very hard to increase this. It is predicted that worldwide internet sales will reach 2030 percent of total retail sales by 57. he said.
“A VERY BIG LEAP IN COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH AFRICA”
Underlining that there has been a huge leap in Turkey's trade relations with Africa, Avdagic said that the trade with Africa, which is 1 billion dollars, is approaching 30 billion dollars. Underlining that the African expansions of the states also affect trade in a very positive way, Avdagiç said that these countries need countries with both humanitarian and economic relations, such as Turkey, and traders, and that Turkish business people meet all these characteristics.
“THE GREAT PRODUCER MONOCOLIES IN THE WORLD ARE TRYING TO BLOCK TURKEY”
Şekib Avdagic talked about the success of Turkish TV series and continued his words as follows:
“Last week we hosted the President of Kosovo. She's a very young lady. He did his doctorate in the USA. He speaks Turkish, speaks good English, already knows Albanian, speaks Spanish. His book is in Turkish. I said, 'Where did you learn it', he said, 'I learned it from Turkish TV series'. However, the big TV series producer monopolies you all know are trying to block Turkey as well. For example, a producer makes 1 movies a year for 3 million dollars. Then he comes to his team, washes him out of 2 million dollars each. It disables our producer. He disables everyone, says 'do it to us', but when no one is left, he runs as he pleases. We see a danger right now, so we will continue to strongly support the cultural side of Turkish TV series.”
“WE MADE ISTANBUL EXHIBITION CENTER THE MOST MODERN EXHIBITION CENTER OF EUROPE”
Evaluating the works they carried out at the Istanbul Expo Center (IFM) within the body of the Istanbul World Trade Center (IDTM) in Yeşilköy, Avdagiç stated that they made the 100 thousand square meter area of IFC the most modern exhibition center in Europe with a renovation investment from A to Z. .
Underlining that they will never be fair organizers like some of them did before, Avdagiç said, “We have an important mission here. A short time ago, we had a meeting with 30 companies organizing fairs in Turkey. We said, 'The oligopoly structure is finished, our door is open to anyone who wants 1 hall or anyone who wants 10 halls'. Even small fairs come, let them grow here. Our mission is to be a company that provides quality exhibition venues.” he said.
ITO President Avdagic said that they want to enlarge the Istanbul Expo Center in square meters with a three-stage plan in order to gain additional fair space to Istanbul.
Avdagiç said, “Our target is 170 thousand square meters in the first stage, and if we increase it to 250 thousand square meters after that, it is sufficient for Istanbul according to the projections we see now. Because in the coming years, fairs will be partly digital and partly hybrid. In other words, we are of the opinion that there will be no need for a 500-600 thousand square meter fair as in the past. We are slowly experiencing it in the pandemic as well.” used the expressions.
Stating that the legal process continues for the 93 million lira tax accrued by Bakırköy Municipality to IFC, Avdagic continued his words as follows:
“Bakırköy Municipality, which is our 5 percent partner in IDTM, inexplicably charged us 2022 million liras in tax for all fairs to be held in 93 via the internet, with desk-based calculations. Then, as all the fairs on this list were held, they sent 3 million and 4 million tax notices to those fairs. A furniture fair received 4,3 million tax returns. Fairs are held all over Turkey, there is no such practice anywhere. We filed a lawsuit to the court for stay of execution and annulment. The Ministry of Commerce and TOBB are also following the event closely. Because, depending on the current conjuncture in the world, Turkish fairs, which are preparing to 'take-off', will take a serious blow. We said, 'We cannot hold a fair here then,' said the mayor. We got rid of CNR and now we are dealing with a new case.”
Avdagic also informed that last month, after 40 years, they obtained the title deed of all halls of IDTM.
“THE PRESIDENT OF OUR PRESIDENT HAS APPROVED THAT IT WAS CORRECT IN TRADE WITH LOCAL MONEY”
Sharing his views on the Russia-Ukraine war, Şekib Avdagiç said regarding the SWIFT system, “When you trade in local currency, you do not enter the SWIFT system. This trade is open. I wish this war had not happened, but I would like to underline the fact that our President's insistence on trade with local currency is correct in extraordinary situations and is important for the survival of the country. In other words, it is useful to emphasize the foresight of our President here. I find it useful to state this very clearly. Some didn't take it seriously at the time. It has become very clear today how important this work can be for the survival of countries in critical situations.” made its assessment.
Pointing out that Turkey has serious economic relations with both countries, Avdagic underlined that 27 percent of the tourists coming to Turkey (7 million Russians, 2 million Ukrainians) are citizens of these two countries.
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