Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) has created a Sustainability in Industry Science Committee for the first goal of the “TİM Sustainability Action Plan”, which it announced with the message “We Produce for the World Without Consuming the World”. The Committee will work to guide exporters in line with the goals of Climate Change, Sustainability, and the European Green Deal.
TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle said, “This is the Turkish Exporters Assembly. Our business is export. But it is not export at all costs. The most important element, that we do not give up, is the concept of production that puts people at the center of the world, respects all values, and does not harm the environment. Exporters are the workers who know the concept of sustainability best. When we set out on this path, we had two important tasks.
The first was to achieve sustainable export. Together, we have achieved this and connected our exports to a sustainable basis. Now we must give a sustainable foreign trade surplus. Last year, we gave 148 countries a foreign trade surplus. It is up to us to make this success sustainable and to increase the number of countries where we have a foreign trade surplus. By fulfilling the objectives in our Action Plan, we will make Türkiye a brand country in the field of sustainability.”
Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), the only umbrella organization of 100 thousand exporters with 61 exporter associations and 27 sectors, continues its work at full speed to achieve its export target, strengthen the ‘Made in Türkiye’ brand, and leave a better Türkiye for future generations. In this context, TİM prepared a “TİM Sustainability Action Plan” with the slogan “We produce for the world without consuming the world” in the efforts it started to achieve the goal of “Sustainable Türkiye in All Areas”. “Sustainability in Industry Science Committee” was created for the first objective of the Action Plan.
The first consultation meeting of the Science Committee was hosted by TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle; It was held with the participation of businesspeople, rectors, academics, representatives of Exporters’ Unions Sector Boards, and relevant stakeholders from the public and private sectors. Gülle, who conveyed the Action Plan to the committee members, listened to the opinions and suggestions of the members.
“Exporters are the workers who know the concept of sustainability best”
Emphasizing that in his speech at the meeting, exporters are the ones who know the concept of sustainability best, İsmail Gülle said, “We shared with the public our TİM Sustainability Action Plan roadmap, which we prepared with the motto “We produce for the world without consuming the world”.
This is the Turkish Exporters Assembly. Our business is export. But it is not export at all costs. The most important element, that we do not give up, is the concept of production that puts people at the center of the world, respects all values, and does not damage the environment. When we set out on this path, we had two important tasks. The first was to achieve sustainable export. We have achieved this together and connected our export to a sustainable basis. Now our task is to give a sustainable foreign trade surplus.”
“Last year, we gave 148 countries a foreign trade surplus”
Noting that they managed to give a foreign trade surplus to 148 countries last year, TİM Chairman Gülle said, “It is up to us to make this success sustainable and to increase the number of countries where we have a foreign trade surplus.
Our primary goal for this goal is high value-added export. However, it is an export that acts with it by keeping the issue of climate change and the environment on its agenda. Because Climate Change, as our primary responsibility to future generations, has now become a top priority global problem that directly affects every aspect of our lives.
The fact that the European Union, where we have a foreign trade surplus, has persistently stated its goal of becoming a carbon-neutral continent is a very important development for our exports. No one should doubt that our exporter will continue to give a sustainable surplus with the Green Covenant. Hopefully, we will make Türkiye a brand country in the field of sustainability by fulfilling the objectives of our Action Plan.
As a result of our work, as a country that produces for the world without consuming the world, we will rise with export thanks to the sustainable development model and become the number one choice of everyone who values the environment.”
“We announced our first ‘Sectoral Action Plan’ in textiles”
Gülle stated that they are working hard with the Turkish Exporters Assembly and Exporters’ Associations to complete the process: For the first time in the history of TİM, we have established sub-working committees under the headings of “Sustainability and Climate” within the body of the Committee on Climate Change and our Women’s Council to guide our work. We organized three different “TİM European Green Consensus Awareness Meetings” with the main grouping of Energy Intensive, Resource Intensive, and Agricultural Sector.
To increase the adequacy of our staff working within the Exporters’ Associations on climate change, we organized “Climate Change and EU Green Order Training” in cooperation with Bosphorus University Climate Change and Policy Implementation and Research Center. We prepared the call for “The European Pre-Accession Assistance Tool IPA III Project” under the title Green Agenda and Sustainability.
For the ISTKA project call, we have applied for a “Zero Carbon Facilitation Center” project for our exporters to comply with the carbon regulation at the border. Within the framework of the COSME Program “Innovation and Technology in European Light Industry”, we have applied for a project that will accelerate the digital, technological, and green transformation steps of our exporters. We announced our first Sectoral Action Plan on July 12th in our textile sector. Within the scope of TUBITAK Network Membership Support, our application for membership in the European Climate Network has been accepted.
We also started the “Climate Talks” series. We carried out the first program with the presence of ambassador Mr. Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, head of the EU Delegation to Türkiye. To answer the sectoral questions of our exporters, we have created a Green Line within ALO TİM. We will focus on promoting this line and informing the public. We will realize our dream of “Sustainable Türkiye in All Areas” by branding our country at the point of sustainability in this way, which we have emerged with 12 main objectives in our Action Plan.
“We will publish the ‘Sustainability Report’ at the end of the year”
For a sustainable world, as the country that offers the blessings of the earth to the use of the whole world, we act with the motto “To produce for the world without consuming the world”.
Our first goal in our TİM Sustainability Action Plan was to create TİM Sustainability in Industry Science Committee and we held our first consultation meeting. We will make all necessary contributions to the ‘Green Reconciliation Action Plan’ implemented with the support of our President, the coordination of our Ministry of Commerce, and the contributions of the relevant institutions.
We will closely follow the whole process in stages with a sustainable export strategy, sectoral action plan, and public consultation mechanism. At the same time, we will establish sector boards affiliated with the Scientific Committee, hold evaluation meetings and publish the “Sustainability Report” at the end of the year with the contributions of our committee members.