Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan at a press conference held on Thursday in the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Turkey announced the launch of the program titled “First Step to Export in 81 Provinces” (81 İlde İhracata İlk Adım), Anadolu news agency reports.
Speaking at the presentation of the program, Pekcan emphasized that its implementation is important for increasing and diversifying Turkey's export potential.
As the name of suggests, the program is designed to assist enterprises in 81 provinces of the country that have export potential but have not yet entered foreign markets to set up their first export operations.
According to the Trade Minister, the program, which will be implemented in Central Anatolia and other provinces, is the most important in the country's economic history. “We believe that this program will stimulate Turkish exports,” noted Pekcan.
The Trade Minister added that in 2019, only 8.7% of 403 thousand enterprises in the industrial sector had exported products and it has prompted the Turkish Ministry of Trade to pursue export expansion work.
According to the Turkish Trade Ministry, as of October this year, the number of exporting companies increased by 5.8% compared to October last year and exceeded 43 thousand.