AMBASSADOR of the Republic of Türkiye to Australia, Ufuk Gezer, has spoken of the opportunities for closer trade ties between the two countries.
Mr Gezer spoke at a gala dinner for freight forwarders KTL Australia held at Melbourne’s Eureka Skydeck.
He told the gathering bilateral trade ties were currently valued around $2.2bn, “which is not bad but this is not enough”.
“The potential is there. You in the logistics community can see the potential better than anyone else,” the ambassador said.
“Australia being the powerhouse when it comes to certain technologies like mining technologies is rich in resources and Türkiye’s vibrant and dynamic young economy [has] a lot of potential.”
He noted the benefits of Türkiye being a member of the customs union of the European Union.
“Which is very important because Turkish industry cut its teeth in fierce competition with Europe in the last 20 years thanks to the customs union,” Mr Gezer said.
“Now, our industry is in line with European standards, they can compete with anybody.”
He highlighted the culture of Turkish entrepreneurship and the willingness to take risks, as well as Türkiye’s role as a humanitarian actor in Central Asia and Africa.
“I think the Australian mindset and the Turkish mindset are complimentary in many respects. As the ambassador in this country, my first mission is to improve bilateral relations and my best tool to do that is using commerce, trade, investment,” he said.
Victorian minister for small business Natalie Suleyman spoke of the connections between Victoria and Türkiye and it was “growing from strength to strength”
“Just in the last financial year, our two-way trade between Victoria and Türkiye provided close to $67m worth of exports and $650m worth of imports,” she said.
“So, it does talk a bit about how important our relationship or partnership is.
“Victoria and Türkiye have grown closer through trade and investment, helping not only the cultural ties but also long-standing friendship through our people, our community and of course our businesses.”
KTL Australia chief executive Matt Eryurek said the event was about celebrating not only KTL Australia’s growth and success, but also partnerships, shared values and enduring friendships.
He reflected upon the growth of the business since its beginnings in Garden Drive, Tullamarine, in 2008.
“This year our industry has faced its share of turbulence with the global shifts, changing policies and, yes, even a few Tweets from the Whitehouse shaping logistics trends almost fortnightly,” Mr Eryurek said.
“They promised technology would make life easier, but for us in international logistics it has only become more complex.
“At KTL, we work hard to support our clients so they can focus on what they do best; building, manufacturing, designing, producing and simply moving forward,” he said.
“Internally we often say, we are no longer in logistics, we are in the business of problem solving.”
Acting as master of ceremonies for the event was prominent comedian Nazeem Hussain.
Guests also enjoyed a band and Turkish music and dancing.