 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
Istanbul Fashion Week >>
|
| |
Bozcaada >>
|
| |
1st Istanbul International Opera Festival >>
|
| |
Open Air Museums in Turkey >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current News
Machine manufacturers to tighten ties with the US
January 17, 2010
Referans
Turkey’s machinery manufacturers have taken action to boost the country’s exports to the United States.
The Association of Machinery Manufacturers, or MİB, will conduct marketing and promotional activities through a company it has founded in the U.S. while providing proper and long-term credit to the American firms purchasing Turkish machines through a deal signed with a U.S. financial institution, according to the group’s chairman.
The Turkish Economy Bank, or TEB, a Turkish lender co-owned by BNP Paribas, will also support the project.
The United States is a market that “has been neglected for years. The export amount is very low,” said MİB Chairman Mustafa Dirin. “We have taken action as an association to boost our exports to that country.”
This project is expected to increase the share of Turkish machines in the U.S. market. The association is also in contact with countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and Algiers, Dirin said.
European Union countries such as Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Finland and Sweden constitute the largest market for machinery exporters, Dirin added, noting that while the exporters are capable of competing with Chinese producers in Germany, the situation is the reverse in the domestic market.
“Germans do not want Chinese products on the grounds that they are not of good quality. As they place more importance in quality rather than price, they prefer us,” he said. “Purchases in Turkey, however, are made according to price. Quality is of secondary importance.”
Impacts of turmoil
Noting that the sector is trying to survive amid the economic crisis, which has brought investments in the industrial sector almost to a halt, Dirin said: “In parallel, machinery demand has dropped significantly. The sector sold machinery worth $33.6 billion in 2007, but this figure dropped to $31.1 billion [in 2008]. During the first half of [2009], our sales declined 45 to 50 percent.”
Machinery firms are currently operating at 40 percent capacity, he noted, adding, “Plate-processing machinery manufacturers are undergoing particularly tough times.” According to Dirin, the crisis has resulted in a 50 percent loss in employment.
Investors can obtain 80 percent of the machinery to be used in their investments from local manufacturers, Dirin said, but noted that machinery imports still stand at a high level.
Though prices of the latest machines have dropped to as low as one-third amid the crisis, it is still difficult to find customers, he added. Saying the sector will still need three to four years to reach its level in 2006-2007, Dirin expressed the industry’s wish to not face another crisis. “If a crisis occurs, it will be in developing countries this time,” he said. “Therefore, we see exports as a way out. Those exporting will get the best of the sector.”
|
|
|