We Will Keep Working With All The Resources We Have

Since the spring of 2020, the restrictive measures taken due to the Covid-19 pandemic around the world led to a great regression in the global economy. While the Eurasian countries, where many structural problems continue, also suffered from this issue, the economic life was negatively affected by the decrease in the trade volume due to the enterprises in the service sector stopping their activities almost completely, the enterprises in the manufacturing sector pausing their activities partially, the borders getting closed, and severe restrictions applied on transportation, the breaks happened in the supply chains, and the decrease seen in the global product demand. Especially when the decline in energy resources and raw material prices combined with the decreasing demand, it became inevitable that Russia and other countries in the region be negatively affected. As a matter of fact, while the Russian economy shrank by 3 percent in 2020, this rate was 2.6 percent in Kazakhstan, 4.3 percent in Azerbaijan, and 4 percent in Ukraine.

While the vaccination studies, which started in Russia towards the end of 2020 and became widespread in other countries in the region in 2021, the support provided by the state, upward movements in energy resources and raw material prices, especially oil and natural gas, and the increase in investment activities had a positive impact on economic life, significant growth forecasts are stated for Eurasian countries in 2021. We see a high probability of realization of these forecasts unless there are major price drops in the oil and natural gas market and the course of the pandemic does not turn into a negative direction.

The most significant geopolitical development in the Eurasian geography in the last two years is the solution of the Karabakh problem and Azerbaijan’s re-establishment of its sovereignty over its own lands by ending the 30-year occupation. Having resulted in the historical victory of Azerbaijan and the liberation of our occupied lands, the 2nd Karabakh War opened the door to a new era in Eurasia. In the upcoming period, we will witness positive developments that will change the fate of Eurasia in the field of regional cooperation and development, as a result of the implementation of large-scale projects in transportation, infrastructure, energy, and many other sectors.

Despite the problems arising due to Covid-19, we can state that the commercial and economic cooperation between Türkiye and the Eurasian countries has developed in a positive way. It is seen that there is no significant decrease in our trade with the countries of the region in 2020 compared to 2019 and instead, there have even been significant increases in our exports. In 2021, a significant increase was recorded in trade figures compared to the previous year. While this situation reveals that the structure of supply chains is changing in favour of Türkiye, it is observed that companies in the countries of the region prefer to buy machinery, equipment, semi-finished products, and many other products in the capital goods group from Türkiye due to high quality and more affordable prices compared to Western manufacturers. In the upcoming period, it is of utmost importance to develop effective and consistent strategies in order for further improving this advantage and increasing our reciprocal trade with Eurasian countries to achieve a balanced and sustainable structure.

As DEİK/Türkiye-Eurasia Business Councils, we endeavoured to take an active role in this process. As a matter of fact, the number of events organized and attended by 13 business councils affiliated with the region in 2020-2021 was 233 in total, and due to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, a significant part of them was held online. Since June 2021, the business councils of the Eurasia region that focused on meetings on physical platforms organized many business events with wide participation rates, 12 of them being abroad.

Within the scope of efforts to develop commercial and economic cooperation with the countries of the region, more importance has been attached to joint activities with our relevant public institutions and business organizations.

In this context, reciprocal visits by high-level state and government officials, and business and investment forums were held simultaneously with Türkiye-Azerbaijan, Türkiye-Uzbekistan, Türkiye-Russia, Türkiye-Kyrgyzstan, and Türkiye Tajikistan Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meetings. Lobbying activities were focused on with the Ukrainian authorities in order to positively conclude the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations that are of great importance for the development of commercial and economic cooperation between Türkiye and Ukraine. The 6th Türkiye -Azerbaijan-Georgia Business Forum and
the 1st Türkiye-Turkic Republics Economy and Trade Conference were held within the scope of the goal of developing bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the Caucasus and Central Asia, to which we are close and have historical-cultural ties, and efforts were made to increase the market share of Turkish companies producing capital goods and offering industrial services in the countries of the region where energy, infrastructure, and other strategic sectors are dominant. Members of the executive board of our business councils and our companies that are members of the councils have carried out many social responsibility activities, especially with the aid of medicines, medical supplies, and devices, in order for contributing to the combat against the pandemic in the countries of the region. During and after the 2nd Karabakh War, which resulted in the historical victory of Azerbaijan,
a significant amount of support was provided to the families of martyrs and veterans through the initiatives of the Türkiye-Azerbaijan Business Council, which took on the task of contributing to the brotherly country to heal the wounds. This also significantly increased the awareness and prestige of the DEİK brand. As DEİK/Türkiye-Eurasia Business Councils, we will keep working with all the resources we have to further enhance our commercial and economic cooperation with Eurasian countries.