Turkey aims to raise machinery exports to Germany

By Gokhan Ergocun</p> <p> </p> <p>ISTANBUL (AA) – The Turkish machinery sector aims to raise the share of machinery in the country’s total exports to Germany to 20 percent, the head of an exporters’ association said Wednesday.</p> <p> </p> <p>Currently, 15 percent of Turkey's all exports to Germany is made by the machinery sector, Kutlu Karavelioglu, head of the Machinery Exporters' Association noted in a press release.</p> <p> </p> <p>Last year, the sector sold machinery worth $2.5 billion to Germany, which he underlined is the world machine industry's center.</p> <p> </p> <p>He noted that Turkish businesses planned to join machinery fairs this April in Hannover and Munich to &quot;raise business contacts&quot;.</p> <p> </p> <p>&quot;During the rest of this year, our sector will raise contacts, and the sector will introduce their products in Hannover Messe and Bauma Munich expos,&quot; he said.</p> <p> </p> <p>Expressing that Turkey’s exports to Germany — its main export market — were unexpectedly affected by the ongoing global trade disputes, Karavelioglu added: &quot;Our machinery exports were under $400 million to Germany in the first two months of 2019.&quot;</p> <p> </p> <p>He also said Germany is a significant market for the machinery sector and that the country plans to invest €235 billion ($265.1 billion) in machinery exports in 2019.