The Machine Manufacturers Association (MİB), which has been operating since 1990 with the aim of protecting the interests of domestic machine manufacturers and supporting domestic machine production across all sectors, continues its efforts to enhance the development of the Turkish machinery industry and increase its global competitiveness.
A Machinery Sector Meeting was held by MİB at the ELK Motor factory of Yılmaz Group companies in Çerkezköy. During the meeting, sector representatives had the opportunity to share their problems and requests directly with Minister Kacır, while discussing issues and solutions regarding the industry.
The meeting was attended by Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Industry and Technology, Dr. Çetin Ali Dönmez, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology, Recep Soytürk, Governor of Tekirdağ, AK Party Tekirdağ MPs Mestan Özcan, Gökhan Diktaş, and Çiğdem Koncagül, MİB Board of Directors President S. Emre Gencer, Board Members, industrialists, and other invited guests.
“We Will Continue to Work to Build the Industry of the Future”
Ender Yılmaz, Vice President of MİB and also Vice President of the Board of Directors of ELK Motor, hosted the meeting. In his opening speech, he stated, “We believe that this meeting will be an important opportunity to create and plan the future strategy of the sector.
The factories in the machinery sector in Turkey play a vital role in the country’s economic development and serve as an example in creating qualified employment. In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, it is essential to produce innovative solutions in order to be more competitive. As representatives of the machinery industry, we are committed to working together with our government, employees, and customers to build the industry of the future, and we will continue to do so.”
Following that, S. Emre Gencer, President of the Machine Manufacturers Association, provided information about the activities of MİB and made significant remarks about the expectations of the sector.
High Expectations from the New Turkish Goods Regulation Draft
Gencer said, “In the first meeting of the Machinery Working Group held last month, chaired by the Director General of Industry, we discussed the trade policy measures that should be taken against unfair and subsidized imports from China, which are against international law. We also raised our concerns about the import of Chinese-made machines, which do not meet our standards and are being sold in our market with questionable CE certificates. As you know, our machinery foreign trade has an annual deficit of over $17 billion, and the worst part is that about $11 billion of this deficit is due to machinery imported from China, much of which is either dumped or accompanied by doubtful quality certificates. Therefore, we will keep this issue on the agenda of the Working Group until a positive resolution is achieved. Another important issue we focus on is the gaps in the regulation for the preference of domestic products in public procurements. Our expectation from the new Turkish Goods Regulation draft is that the principle of allowing public authorities to inspect the domestic product certificates either ex officio or upon complaints is clearly reflected in the new legislation without leaving room for interpretation. In future meetings of the Working Group, we plan to focus only on the implementation of the policy and measures outlined in the new Development Plan and Medium-Term Program (OVP), with some exceptions.”
“We Must Continue Investments Focused on Productivity Improvement”
Gencer continued, “As a sector, we are facing a difficult year not only in our domestic market but also in almost all of our major foreign markets. Given the ongoing economic stagnation in the EU, particularly in Germany, and the likelihood that this situation will persist throughout next year, we are trying to balance our budgets. To survive in international competition, we are obligated to continue our investments focused on improving productivity. The YTAK program is almost our only alternative for investment financing. However, it is also true that we have not been able to benefit sufficiently from this program so far. In the new Medium-Term Program, it is stated that YTAK will be applied more effectively for export-supporting and high-value-added product groups in productive sectors. Under the HAMLE program, 18 machine projects have been approved so far, all of which are fully in line with this definition. Therefore, we believe that all approved projects should be allocated YTAK funding.”
“All Public Companies Should Follow the Same Approach for Machinery and Equipment Purchases”
“TİM’s sectoral analyses reveal that the machinery sector is among the top sectors where our country is most competitive on a global scale,” said Gencer, adding, “We believe that machinery investments not included in the HAMLE program should also benefit from the YTAK program with simplified procedures. Another application that caught our attention regarding investment is the ‘HIT 30’ program that was established very recently. We understand that the aim of this program is to build a holistic ecosystem that includes the entire value chain for Additive Manufacturing Machines and High Technology Products, which are among the priority investment areas. It would be useful for our ministry officials to inform our members about the HIT 30 program through an online meeting, as in HAMLE. Another important issue is that public enterprises carry out their machinery purchases with a principled understanding that will encourage domestic production. In this regard, we signed a cooperation protocol with our public enterprise MKE last month, which envisages the procurement of machinery and equipment used in the defense industry from domestic companies. We believe that all public companies, public subsidiaries, Wealth Fund companies, BITs and consortia undertaking PPP projects should act with the same understanding in their machinery and equipment purchases.”