Tarsus Commodity Exchange Council held its first Council Meeting of 2024 under the chairmanship of Council President Murat Kaya.

Tarsus Commodity Exchange Council  held its first Council Meeting of 2024 under the chairmanship of Council  President Murat Kaya.During the meeting, the work carried out by the Board of Directors of the Commodity Exchange during the remaining January was shared with the members of the Council and sectoral issues were brought to the agenda.

Assembly Speaker Kaya wished that 2024, which was entered with new hopes, would be a year full of health, peace and abundance, and wished the members of the Stock Exchange Assembly success in their new term work.

Underlining that, as Tarsus Commodity Exchange, they spent a devoted year in 2023 for the development of the economy of Tarsus and our region and the implementation of projects, Kaya stated that they will continue to express their suggestions and demands verbally and in writing in every environment in 2024.Underlining that the new year will be a difficult year in terms of economy and trade, Parliament Speaker Kaya said: “As you know, 2023 was a very difficult year for our country and the world economy. We can say that our agricultural sector has entered a continuous shrinkage or low growth spiral since 2021. Our city's agricultural performance was slightly above the country average. "We will continue to express our solution suggestions and demands to solve our problems in the general economy in the future, verbally and in writing, in every environment in 2024," he said.

Murat Kaya stated that the Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution grants, which have covered 42 provinces so far, will be expanded to 81 provinces as of 2024, and emphasized the importance of Tarsus being able to benefit from these grant programs at the minimum level.

President Murat Kaya stated that the legislative regulations regarding the planning of agricultural production and the contracted production system have been implemented in 2023 and that the regulation will benefit agriculture and producers and said: “We expect the impact analyzes of the applications to be made in a healthy way and shared with our sector. "On the other hand, we expect the general agricultural census, which we see as essential for the sustainable establishment of basic agricultural policies, to be implemented in a realistic and comprehensive manner," he said.

"We must do our part in exports properly," said Parliament Speaker Kaya, reminding that 2023 foreign trade figures play a key role in achieving Turkey's export targets.

“Unfortunately, we see that demand in the world economy has weakened in 2023, production has remained stagnant, and global import and export figures have declined. As a general economic outlook; According to the provisional statistics of the Ministry of Commerce for December, the foreign trade deficit was at the level of $6.1 billion monthly. Thus, the external deficit in 2023 was $106 billion, $3.5 billion below last year's and $6 billion below the MTP estimate. For our country, there is a great success in our foreign trade despite the difficult economic conditions of 2023, but Turkey's potential is much higher. That's why our country deserves more. “As exporters, we owe it to ourselves to give our country the best it deserves,” he concluded.

Mustafa Teke, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Commodity Exchange, said that the danger of drought in our country and the region in recent years is thought-provoking, and that ranking 4th in the world in food inflation does not suit Turkey.

Pointing out that there is a meteorological drought in Turkey and the world due to climate change, Chairman of the Board of Directors Mustafa Teke stated that if the rainfall does not occur at the desired level, this situation may turn into an agricultural drought.

Chairman of the Board of Directors Mustafa Teke; “The problems are clear, the solution suggestions are obvious, but the problem is putting theory into practice. We cannot keep up with the pace of climate change. Our population will increase by 10 percent in 2030. Our average water resources will decrease by 20 percent and 78 percent of agricultural areas will be at risk of water shortage. 49 percent of the population will face the risk of accessing water. Harvest times have been changing noticeably in recent years, and we are starting to encounter pests that we do not see in our region. In some places the rain is very heavy and lasts for a long time. In some places, the weather is very hot and the shelf life of the products is shortened. We are talking about agricultural planning, but there is no planning without technology. Just planning production is not enough. How we will market the grown product should also be planned, and global climate change must also be taken into consideration when planning. What we really regret is that at this point, Türkiye has the highest food inflation among OECD countries. It is ranked second among G-20 countries and 4th in the world. Being 4th in the world in food inflation in a place we call an agricultural country does not suit Turkey.