Turkish Airlines country’s largest service exporter

By Gokhan Ergocun, Tuba Sahin and Musab Turan</p> <p>ISTANBUL (AA) – The national flag carrier Turkish Airlines has been named as the country’s largest service exporter on Friday.</p> <p>Turkey’s 500 Largest Service Exporters Award Ceremony was held in Istanbul by Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM) in coordination with Trade Ministry.</p> <p>Speaking at the ceremony, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the total turnover of awarded 500 firms was $93 billion in 2017 as their services exports amounted to $23 billion.</p> <p>&quot;These 500 firms made more than half of our total services exports,&quot; Erdogan said.</p> <p>Turkey continues to move towards its aims with democracy, economy, and security, the president added.</p> <p>Carrier firms Sun Express and Pegasus, logistic company Ekol, construction contracting company Gap Insaat were also among the top 5 service exporters.</p> <p>Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said Turkey had $22 billion services export surplus during the January-October period, up 22 percent compared to the same period last year.</p> <p>The country's services export surplus was around $1 billion in 1984, $7.9 billion in 2002 and $20 billion in 2017, she noted.</p> <p>&quot;Our target is to double or triple this figures with contributions of new services sectors, &quot; she added.</p> <p>Services export becomes one of the most powerful instruments for fighting against the current deficit, Pekcan said.</p> <p>The country ranked as 29th last year with its $43.7 billion services exports in the world, Pekcan reminded.</p> <p>She said Turkey does not only exports goods to all around the world but it also exports contractor services, software, TV series, movies, and health services.</p> <p>Turkey is among the top 10 countries in the textile and tourism sectors, and the country will be a regional power in e-commerce, medical tourism, information technologies, and software sectors, Pekcan noted. </p> <p>&quot;This year, just our game software exports will exceed $1 billion, which is equal to Turkey's steel exports to the U.S.,&quot; she said.