Turkish businessmen urge investment in value addition

By Tuba Sahin and Gokhan Ergocun

BURSA, Turkey

Turkey should focus on investing in value-added production in order to reduce the current account gap, representatives of a Turkish business circle said Friday.

They were attending the 7th Uludag Economy Summit in Bursa, an industrial hub in northwestern Turkey.

According to latest data from Turkish Statistical Institute, the current account deficit has widened by $4.4 billion, year-on-year, to reach nearly $7.1 billion in January.

Giving a talk at a session 'Future of Production', Ahmet Dorduncu, the CEO of Turkish conglomerate Akkok Holding said one of Turkey's vulnerability is its low levels of savings which causes a current account deficit.

"As we can not transfer our savings to investments in Turkey, we need to bring sources from abroad," he added.

He said more investments should be made in value added products in order to reduce the gap and reap more profits.

Bugra Kavuncu, the CEO of BASF Turkey, an international chemical firm based in Germany, said producing value added products is crucial for resolving the deficit.

Kavuncu said that digitalization plays an important role in value addition.

"We can not miss the train. Industrialists have to be ready for this," he said.

Temel Kotil, the head of Turkish Aerospace Industries, said: "Turkey should manufacture technological products in order to compete in the global market."

The summit, which has brought together 1,200 businesspeople from around the world, will end on Saturday.