In the present century; concepts such as cost, speed and profitability, which are the cornerstones of productivity come together with branding, technology, innovation, logistics, R&D and human elements to form an effective competitive environment. When these important parameters are integrated to each other, our products are frequently highlighted both in domestic and international markets. The fact that our country’s construction materials are well-known and reliable worldwide in terms of quality encourages us to move forward confidently in global trade. When we look at our foreign trade figures, we see that this thesis is confirmed by statistics. Statistics show us that we have achieved another challenge globally; because we produce with the standards of the West and compete with the prices of the East.

Trade, as in all sectors, lies right at the heart of the construction sector. Our exports, which increased by 7.1 percent in 2018 to 168.1 billion dollars, became the highest annual export of our Nation’s history and cut the deceleration in the economy by keeping the wheel running in one of the most difficult periods of the economy. A major contribution to Turkey’s total exports came from “the building materials industry” whose usual main focus has been the exports.

The Trade Wars that have been going on since 2017, the Brexit uncertainty between the UK and the EU, the ongoing crises in the Middle East and the slowdown in the Chinese economy signal a probable contraction in global trade in 2019. Nevertheless; almost half of Turkey’s growth target of 2019 which is 2,3% is expected to come from exports. In order to achieve this success, striving for the continuity of the momentum in our export volume is among our priorities. In today’s world where foreign trade is so important, we need to focus on regions outside our current markets, cross borders and become more aware of our potential, produce value-added products and reduce import input.

We need to determine the most ambitious export product groups that best suit to world trade of our country and keep access to accurate markets in all regions of the world, so that we can realize an unlimited trade by enabling better analysis of Turkey’s position in global trade.

In 2018, the top 1000 exporters of 83000 total accounted for 102.8 billion dollars which is 61% of total exports with $ 100 mio performance per company. The remaining 82000 companies have an average performance of $ 2.0 million per company with $ 65 billion total exports. Turkey’s 2023 vision goals will be achieved faster by providing 1.0 million dollar average export growth by these companies each.

Those who can adapt to sectoral trends in today’s competitive environment are those who will carry their assets to the future. In this regard, as building material industrialists our biggest goal is to come to a much stronger and preferred position by stepping forward with “Turkey” brand.

In order to identify, share and realize our targets, we set the theme of our summit as “The Codes of Competition: Trade Without Boundaries”. We hope to meet you at Swissotel The Bosphorus Istanbul on November 5, 2019 in order to provide the highest added value to our stakeholders, to determine the right strategies in the competitive environment and to enlighten the path of healthy economic growth.