BBM Magazine Issue-Sayı: 58 November - Kasım 2022

42 INTERVIEW • RÖPORTAJ BBM / KASIM 2022 • NOVEMBER 2022 mine göre %33’lük bir artışla 652 milyon dolara yükselttik ve şimdiye kadarki en yüksek ocak-haziran ihracatın rakamına ulaştık. Türkiye’nin şanslı olduğu kadar şansız olduğu yönler de var. Türkiye’nin yakın coğrafyasında Irak’ta bugün un fabrika- ları kuruluyor. Tabi sadece orada kurulmuyor, dünyanın de- ğişik ülkelerinde de bu fabrikalar kuruluyor. Ürün sattığımız özellik Afrika pazarlarının birçoğunda artık ek gümrük vergi- leri getiriliyor. Bunlardan dolayı Türkiye pazarının un reçetesi ağırlaşıyor. Bunun için bize de önemli görevler düşüyor. Biz- ler de zor şartlar altında elde etmiş olduğumuz bu pazarları kaybetmememiz için çaba sarf ediyoruz. İnsan kaynağı konusunda gerçekten çok deneyimli bir ülkeyiz. Bu sadece, buğday alıp onu un yapmak gibi böyle çok kolay gibi iyi algılanıyor. Ancak bunun o kadar da ko- lay olmadığını bizzat yaşayanlar olarak biliyoruz. Her gün una sevgimizin dışında bir takım bilgilerimizi aktarıyoruz. Bize rakip olması beklenen ülkelerin bizim kadar bu konuda başarılı olma imkanları yok. Irak bunu geçmişte çok denedi. Türkiye’ye alternatif İran’ı sundular. Türkiye alternatif olarak supply in the domestic market flawlessly, we increased our exports to $652 million in the first half of 2022 with a 33% in- crease compared to the same period of 2021 and reached the highest January-June export figure ever. There are aspects where Türkiye is unlucky, too. Today, flour factories are being established in Iraq, a close location to Tür- kiye. For sure, factories are not being established only there, but also in different countries of the world. Many African mar- kets where we sell products now impose additional customs duties. Thus, conditions are getting harder for the Turkish flour industry. For this, we have a significant role to play. We are making an effort not to lose these markets, which we have gained under challenging conditions. Our country has great experience in human resources. Tak- ing the wheat and producing flour from it is thought to be easy. However, we know from experience that it is not that easy. Countries that are expected to compete with us do not have the opportunity to be as successful. Iraq has tried this many times in the past. They tried Iran as an alternative to Türkiye. Türkiye tried to bring flour from different countries as well. But they couldn’t give up on our flour thanks to the value given to that product by the Turkish flour industrialists. When they don’t buy from us, they buy lower-quality products at higher prices. We have a serious fund of knowledge. If also the gov- ernment supports us, we won’t lose our markets and maintain our leadership in the markets we are strong. We have to work on each country one by one. We have made promotions in many countries with the Flour Promotion Group in the past. We managed to open big markets, especially in the Philippines and Indonesia. The Turkish flour industry won the cases before the World Trade Organization and set an example for many new industries. We are an industry that has brought bil- lions of dollars to the country through export so far. In this sense, I believe that we, as flour industrialists, will maintain our large share of the export cake if we are given the op- portunity and supported. What will TFIF do to increase the farmer’s wheat produc- tion, including contract production? As TFIF, we invited the managers of TAGEM (General Direc- torate of Agricultural Research and Policies) to the “Sectoral Outlook and Expectations after the 2022 Harvest Season” meeting, which was held under the roof of the Extended Sec- tor Meeting of the Central Anatolian Flour Industrialists’ As- sociation in Konya where the problems of the industry were discussed. Here, we drew attention to our country’s wheat pro- duction and varieties, mentioned the needs, advantages, and disadvantages of our producers for high-quality and efficient wheat production, and introduced the wheat they need to our industrialists.