Dr. Hakan Çınar, Chairman of DIŞYÖNDER, stresses that export growth must translate into greater business competitiveness and sustainable earnings. Highlighting high production costs, expensive financing and intensifying price competition, Çınar calls for easier access to support schemes and measures to realise Türkiye’s potential as a centre for managing trade.

Dr. Hakan Çınar
Chairman of the Association of
Foreign Trade Leaders (DIŞYÖNDER)

Türkiye’s September foreign trade figures point to strong export growth, while keeping exporters’ cost and financing challenges firmly on the agenda. According to Dr. Hakan Çınar, Chairman of the Association of Foreign Trade Leaders (DIŞYÖNDER), success cannot be assessed solely by the total value of exports. Lasting market share, the use of domestic inputs, added value and business profitability are equally integral to the picture.

Çınar’s assessments shed light on the competitive conditions facing manufacturers operating in international markets, from securing orders and delivering goods to working capital and logistics.

How do you assess the 15.4% increase in September exports to approximately $26 billion? What does this result mean for foreign trade?

The strong increase in our exports in September is encouraging for all of us. However, one successful month does not mean that all our foreign trade problems have been resolved. We must also take into account that imports reached $31.2 billion and the trade deficit stood at $5.2 billion during the same period.

Our exporters are still contending with high costs, expensive financing and increasingly intense international competition. The figures are growing, but exporters’ room for manoeuvre is not expanding at the same pace. We therefore need to assess September’s positive performance carefully in terms of the sustainability of exports.

Looking at the first nine months of the year, what priorities should Türkiye’s foreign trade strategy focus on?

In the first nine months of 2026, exports reached approximately $211 billion, while imports stood at $282 billion. The trade deficit widened to $71 billion. This picture shows that our strategy should not focus solely on export growth.

Monthly export records are, of course, important. But the central issue is how much of that growth translates into lasting market share, greater added value and sustainable earnings. We cannot measure a country’s export success solely by the total value of the products it sells. We must also consider how much of those products is produced using domestic inputs, how much foreign exchange they generate and how much stronger its businesses become in international competition.

Which costs are currently placing the greatest constraints on the competitiveness of manufacturers and exporters?

Financing costs, working capital requirements, and energy, labour and logistics expenses are limiting competitiveness across many sectors. The relationship between exchange rates and costs is particularly important.

Today, a significant proportion of our exporters must consider not only how to secure new orders, but also the cost of fulfilling those orders and the profit margins they can achieve upon delivery. While domestic costs are rising, price competition in international markets is becoming increasingly intense. This is placing considerable pressure on our labour-intensive sectors in particular.

What medium- and long-term risks arise when businesses cannot earn sufficient profits despite rising exports?

If an exporter can make sales but cannot earn enough from them, it may struggle to maintain its production capacity, employment and market share over the medium and long term. When assessing export growth, we must therefore also consider the earnings businesses generate from those sales and their competitiveness.

Our exports are growing, but the cost and financing pressures on our exporters are not easing. We must translate the success reflected in the figures into stronger businesses.

What approach is needed to ensure that foreign trade support schemes respond more effectively to exporters’ needs?

Foreign trade support schemes should be simplified, and their implementation should become more predictable. Mechanisms such as foreign exchange conversion support need to be structured in a way that strengthens exporters’ cash flow.

Exporters do not only need new incentives. Being able to access existing incentives quickly, easily and reliably is just as important as the incentives themselves. Complex procedures, unclear implementation and delays can reduce the effectiveness of support.

If we want to support exporters, we must first remove the unnecessary costs and bureaucratic obstacles they face. Support schemes should make exporters’ lives easier, rather than create additional burdens.

How can Türkiye turn its geographical position and logistics infrastructure into a stronger advantage in foreign trade?

Alongside its production and export capacity, Türkiye has significant advantages in terms of its geographical position and logistics infrastructure. Transit trade, free zones and regional distribution centres should become a more prominent part of our foreign trade strategy.

Türkiye can become more than a country that moves goods between Europe and Asia; it can become a centre that manages trade. To achieve this, we must speed up customs procedures, facilitate transit trade, make more effective use of our free zones and bring logistics costs down to competitive levels.

As global supply chains are reshaped, Türkiye cannot afford to miss this opportunity. We need to make better use of this potential to build a new success story in foreign trade.

What responsibilities do the public sector, private sector and civil society organisations have in achieving sustainable export success?

Growing our exports is a shared goal. However, sustainable success requires simultaneous action across all areas, from access to financing and production costs to customs procedures and technological transformation. The public sector, private sector and civil society organisations must work towards the same objective.

As we celebrate today’s records, we must also build tomorrow’s competitiveness. Türkiye’s future will be determined not only by the size of its export figures, but also by the strength of its exporters in global markets.

We should now be discussing growth in competitiveness, not just growth in the figures. Let us take pride in export records, but let us not overlook exporters’ problems. We must remember that strong export figures can only be sustained by strong exporters.