Speaking at the 3rd Champions of Exports Award Ceremony organized by the Cement, Glass, Ceramics and Soil Products Exporters' Association ÇCSIB Chairman of the Board Erdem Cenesiz said that they produce domestic added value three times the average of Turkey.
The 3rd Champions of Exports Award Ceremony was held by the Cement, Glass, Ceramics and Soil Products Exporters' Association (ÇCSIB), which is the sole and coordinating exporter association with over 2,000 members and includes the ceramic, glass and cement industries. In the award ceremony, where the keynote speakers were Deputy Minister of Trade R. Tuna Turagay, Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) President Ismail Gulle and ÇCSIB Chairman of the Board Erdem Cenesiz, 71 awards were presented in 11 sub-sectors.
Ismail Gulle: ““Our exporters made history in 2020”
Stating that 2020 is a year that shows the stability and resilience of Turkish exports, TIM President İsmail Gülle said, “Our exporters who will receive awards today almost made history in 2020. The value of the performance will be remembered, perhaps even decades later. Especially after the second half of the year, we got the wind at our back. This wind gave us the courage to make 2021 the year of exports. As a result of all these achievements, we managed to exceed 215 billion dollars in our exports in the last 12 months. Exceeding $20 billion in monthly exports is a success that we are gradually getting used to. We are very proud to add value to our exports and this national wealth. Because we know that tomorrow's Turkey will rise only with production and exports.
Erdem Cenesiz: “The net current surplus that the three sectors have brought to the country in the last 10 years is close to 25 billion dollars”
Erdem Cenesiz, Chairman of the Board of ÇCSIB, stated that the sectors operating under the Association made Turkey one of the most successful countries in the world during the pandemic period with their sustainable production, supply and logistics powers, and thanked the exporting companies. Expressing that they reached 4 billion dollars in exports with 8 percent growth in 2020, Cenesiz emphasized that they increased the target this year and said, “The success we achieved in the first year of the pandemic opened the way for us to set bigger targets. As of the first 10 months of this year, we have reached 4 billion dollars in exports. We aim to reach 5 billion dollars by adding growth to our growth in the last two months. On the other hand, the domestic added value produced by our cement, glass and ceramics industries has increased three times the average of Turkey. By the end of this year, we anticipate that we will create 3.3 billion dollars of domestic added value. Thus, the net foreign exchange we have provided to our country in the last 10 years will approach 25 billion dollars. We will continue to grow our exports together with our design culture that is getting stronger and more important, our high-capacity modern facilities, our product richness, our flexible structure that can adapt to all conditions and our deep-rooted history.”
“We provide employment for more than 100 thousand all over Anatolia”
Emphasizing that another issue that ÇCSIB attaches importance to at least as much as increasing exports is to contribute to the welfare of the society, Erdem Cenesiz continued as follows; “Our producers in three sectors employ over 100 thousand people. There has been no permanent job loss since the beginning of the pandemic. We welcome our members to focus on new investments and employment. However, another important feature of our sectors is that they contribute not only to a city or region, but also to the whole of our country. We have cement plants in Elazig, Siirt and Van. We make ceramics in Diyarbakir, Adiyaman and Corum. We produce glass in Polatli. In other words, our export journey starts from all over Anatolia and reaches seven continents.”
In his speech, ÇCSIB Chairman Cenesiz mentioned that energy costs place a serious burden on industrialists and that the gradual natural gas pricing, which was put into practice as of November and penalizes the increase in production, should be abandoned. Noting that the business world also has important responsibilities in energy, Cenesiz stated that necessary measures should be taken especially so that the Carbon Regulation at the Border does not hinder exports.
71 awards in 11 sub-sectors
After the opening speeches, the award ceremony was held and 71 awards were given in 11 sub-sectors. After the awards given in the categories of "Companies with the Highest Exports", "Company with the Highest Export Unit Price" and "Company with the Highest Export Unit Price", the event ended with a gala dinner.
