By Gokhan Ergocun
ISTANBUL (AA) – If Türkiye will not take steps against China's Belt and Road Initiative, the project will harm the Turkish manufacturing sector by eliminating its strong hand over its closeness to the European countries, the head of Türkiye's Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) said on Friday.
China has left contract manufacturing behind and is now abandoning the production of medium-tech products and stands out with branded products, said Nail Olpak in a news conference in Istanbul.
China aims to deliver products to the rich markets faster, with the European market being one them, he said. Today, an average delivery time from China to the European market takes 40 -45 days, he added.
"In the Belt and Road Project, China's goal is to deliver its goods to Europe within a week," he said. "What does this mean for us? Our biggest advantage today is the logistics advantage. A product leaving Gaziantep (a southeastern Turkish province) can be delivered to any city in Europe within 48 hours. Forty-eight hours is a very serious advantage compared to 45 days. But when it decreases to one week, our logistic advantage drops to five days."
China is investing serious amount of budget in the project, Türkiye is not in a position to prevent it, but it has to take measures, according to Opak.
"What should we do? Those wagons will probably not go back empty. What will we fill them with? If I have the chance to fill them with products with high added value, the project will be meaningful for us," he said.
The Belt and Road Initiative, which was announced by China in 2013, aims to connect Asia, Africa and Europe via road and sea lanes in one week.
- Trade with Israel
Touching on Israel's attacks on Gaza, Opak said Israel caused images in Gaza that the human heart could not bear.
"When we come to the commercial side, it was not said: 'No more trade with Israel.' But we observe that there is a serious decrease and contraction in the last two months," he said.
Olpak added: "We see that the commercial contraction is around the 30-40% level. This is the reaction of companies and people directly in this process. This reaction within two months should not be underestimated."
He said DEIK did not conduct a survey with its members regarding commercial relations with Israel.
"I think that the boycott of Israel on the agenda is in a different position than the old boycotts. The reaction in the world is not like that. In other words, there is a different reaction than what we have experienced so far."
On the US demand to suspend trade relations with Russia, he said: "The US may wish to give directives on the embargo. Türkiye's attitude in this context, both politically and commercially, is clear."
They may request to not sell a war-related product to Russia but Türkiye is not in a position to close all doors, Opak said.
Türkiye will continue with its commercial interests no matter what, as there has already been no such thing as blocking trade, he said, adding that Türkiye's trade and exports with Russia have increased significantly this year.