A Comprehensive Review of the Turkish-U.S. Agricultural Trade Relations at TEPAV The meeting inaugurated by the US Ambassador to Turkey Francis J. Ricciardone assembled Turkish and American bureaucrats with sector representatives.
ANKARA – TEPAV held a meeting titled “Celebrating 200 Years of Turkish-U.S Agricultural Trade Relations: Historical and Future Perspectives” on Wednesday, 27 February 2013. The meeting which highlighted the need to improve the economic relations between the two countries also addressed specific issues raised by sector representatives.
Delivering an opening speech, TEPAV Director Güven Sak said that the cooperation between the USD and Turkey that generally concentrated in the field of security had started to enrich and that with its 200 years of history agricultural trade between the two countries had come to TEPAV’s agenda. Sak stated that the TEPAV | Food and Agricultural Policies Research Institute (FAPRI) aims to identify market priorities, provide a comprehensive knowledge and dataset agreed on by relevant parties, and build a consultation mechanism which involves all stakeholders in order to improve the efficiency of the policy dialogue processes.
Sak: “The policy protects neither the rural sector nor consumers”
Assessing Turkey’s agriculture policies in a historical framework, Sak stated that the agricultural sector was the key exception in the economic transformation process that started in 1980. He said that while protectionist policies in the sector prevailed, these neither helped reduce rural poverty nor protected customers. Stressing that 38 percent of the rural population were living under poverty according to the 2009 figures of the World Bank, he added that meat and milk prices were 40 percent higher in Turkey and cereal prices were relatively higher compared to the US which has twice the productivity of Turkey in cereal production.
Ricciardone: “The rise in American exports to Turkey is because of Turkey’s success”
The US Ambassador to Ankara Turkey Francis J. Ricciardone said that trade relations between Turkey and the US dated before the diplomatic relations back to 1811, when American merchant David Offley founded a company in Izmir via which American ships bringing goods to the country purchased Turkish goods before they return.
Ricciardone stated that a lot of progress was made in trade relations since then and that growth of agricultural exports of the US to Turkey related directly to the rapid growth of the Turkish economy.
Ricciardone recalled that US President Barack Obama had laid emphasis on the improvement of bilateral trade relations and stressed that cooperation was key to build a better future for both Turkey and the US.
Damlacı touched upon bureaucratic problems
Sharing the details of bilateral agricultural trade, Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy Cemalettin Damlacı stated that Turkey’s agricultural imports from the US increased from $560 million to $1,145,000,000 while Turkey’s exports to the US stood at $540 million. He said that Turkey’s olive oil exports had recently increased and that there was a great potential in the US market for fruit and vegetable exports, applications concerning which were currently evaluated by the relative American authorities.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Food and Livestock Kudbettin Arzu talked about the recent developments in Turkey’s agricultural sector.
The academia, private sector and bureaucrats shared their opinions
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Baskıcı of Ankara University delivered a presentation about the history of Turkish – American Agriculture Trade” and Ali Ülker, Board Member of Yıldız Holding shared with the audience their acquisition of American chocolate brand Godiva and their prospects about the American market. According to Ülker, US-based products such as corn and soy should be popularized and processed in Turkey and exported to the neighboring countries.
In the following session, representatives from companies that engage in the American market shared their experiences. The session hosted Cüneyt Başbakkal, Foreign Trade Director of Yaşar Holding, Ali Nedim Güreli, Chairman of ATALAN Olive Oil Company and Deputy Chairman of TIM, and İbrahim Türkhan, Chairman of Türkhan Gıda. Güreli’s presentation raised the changes in the American market in the attitude towards Turkish companies after the 9/11 and the problems facing Turkish businesspeople, mainly concerning visa processes.
The meeting ended after the session on country perspectives which hosted Suzanne Heinen, USDA/ FAS Administrator, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sibel Güven, Director of TEPAV | FAPRI, and Güher Çeltek Sungur, Deputy General Director of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock. The session revealed the need for solid data and partnership in technology and innovation for better cooperation in agriculture between Turkey and the US.
