Turkish Contractors Association Minister Erdal Eren stated that Saudi Arabia is making a huge breakthrough and stated that this country will invest $3 trillion, $4 trillion of which will be in construction within 3 years.
Erdal Eren was re-elected as president at the 34th Ordinary General Assembly of the Turkish Contractors Association (TMB).
At the General Assembly held at TMB, Eren was reinstated as the president while determining the new management of the Union. Making evaluations after the election, Eren stated that they decided to be a little more active abroad due to the earthquakes that occurred on February 6 last year, centered in Kahramanmaras, and underlined that relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where business had stopped for a while, had warmed up again.
SAUDI ARABIA IS IN A BIG BREAKTHROUGH
Eren said, “Saudi Arabia, in particular, is in a very big breakthrough. Prince Salman has a vision for 2030. They will invest approximately $3 trillion in their country, and they describe $1.4 trillion of this as construction within 3 years. Therefore, we started to increase our activities last year with very great activity in Saudi Arabia.”
WE ARE FOLLOWING IRAQ VERY CLOSELY
Eren explained that pending investments started in Iraq, which is an important market, with the government established last year, and said:
“The most important of these is a railway and highway network of approximately 12 thousand kilometers from the Persian Gulf to the border of Turkiye. This has a very strategic importance. The name of this road is the Development Road. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have committed to providing financing for this project to Iraq. Our Ministry of Transport and Trade follows it very closely. We also follow it very closely. When the Development Road is completed, it is planned that all transit transportation from Europe will pass through Turkiye by rail and road and go from Iraq to the Persian Gulf.”
Reminding that due to the tension in the Red Sea, maritime trade is carried out around the African continent via the Cape of Good Hope, Eren said, “There is a very serious cost difference. Therefore, the economy of the whole world is affected. This path (Development Road) will also solve that problem.”
THE TARGET IS TO CREATE A $10 BILLION BUSINESS CAPACITY
Stating that Turkish engineers and contractors stated that they would complete the project within the same period during their visit to Iraq last year, Eren said:
“We have achieved this in both railways and build-operate-transfer highways in Turkiye. I hope that in the near future, there will be approximately $10 billion a year in both Saudi Arabia and Iraq, not only the Development Road Project, but also hospitals, schools and many other needs. If we create a capacity to do approximately $10 billion of business there, we can receive a new business volume of around $30 to $50 billion abroad every year in the medium term.”
Stating that ministers from different fields from Saudi Arabia came to Turkiye 6 times last year, Eren said, “They will restart construction very seriously. They are waiting for Turkish companies. In the last quarter of last year, some of these negotiations were concluded with a contract. We signed a contract worth approximately $2.7 billion. But we aim to increase this to an average of $10 billion a year.”
WE WILL PLAY A ROLE IN THE RESTRUCTURING OF UKRAINE
Referring to the Ukraine-Russia War, Eren stated that Ukraine would be reconstructed after the war and that they were in constant contact with the Ukrainian authorities during this process.
Eren said, “We have already opened our construction sites in Ukraine, through some of our members, while the war was still going on. I hope that if the war in Ukraine ends as soon as possible, our market in Russia is very big, we have businesses, and we will play a role in the restructuring of Ukraine.”
WE NEED WELDERS, CRANE, BUCKET OPERATORS, MOLDERS
Touching on the problem of intermediate staff in the sectors, Eren said that this problem is constantly mentioned not only in the construction sector, but also in the service, tourism and industry sectors.
Explaining that they need welders, crane, bucket operators and molders at construction sites, Eren concluded his words as follows:
“The number of art schools and vocational high schools should be increased. We do not need 3 million white-collar workers a year for the economic development of our country. But we need more than 3 million blue-collar workers. We have a critical and difficult economic period ahead of us. Our Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank explain these in their reports.”
NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAS BEEN DETERMINED
On the other hand, the new board of directors of TMB, which will serve for 3 years, consists of the following names:
“Basar Arioglu, Ali Rıza Arslan, Ihsan Cetinceviz, Mufit Eren, Deha Emral, Cahit Karakullukcu, Suheyla Cebi Karahan, Tevfik Oz, Erdem Tavas, Kartal Usluel, Murat Ustay and Erdal Yenigun.”
Source: Patronlardunyasi / Prepared by Irem Yildiz