Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), visited Trendyol’s Operations Center in Tuzla and received information about Trendyol’s future plans. Zeyoudi stated that they made their first investment in Trendyol last year because they believe in the growth potential of e-commerce in Turkey; “We are excited about what we can do in the field of e-commerce with Trendyol. Your team is doing a great job. As the UAE government, we are ready to support.”
Trendyol Co-Founder Begum Tekin said, “Our goal is to build new bridges that will bring together our 260 thousand sellers, Turkish manufacturers and brands, most of which are tradesmen and SMEs, with the world. We want to mediate the growth of the high-quality production capacity of Turkish manufacturers and brands in global markets and to increase the foreign exchange inflow to our country.”
United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, who came to Turkey within the scope of the Turkey-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations, visited Trendyol’s Operations Center in Tuzla. Zeyoudi was accompanied by Trendyol Co-Founder Begum Tekin and Trendyol management team. Abu Dhabi Development Holding (ADQ), the state investment fund of the United Arab Emirates, and Chimera Investment made their first investments in Trendyol in Turkey last year and became the company’s strategic partners in the UAE and the Middle East.
Zeyoudi stated that they closely follow the e-commerce sector in Turkey through Abu Dhabi Development Holding (ADQ), the state investment fund of the United Arab Emirates; “We are proud to meet and partner with one of the companies that will lead the way in e-commerce in the Middle East. We look forward to supporting your presence in the UAE and being a base for your products and operations. E-commerce has grown a lot in the last two years with the effect of the pandemic in general. If I have to make a prediction, this sector will grow much more. We also really appreciate your great success. Another issue is the progress you have made in logistics. E-commerce and logistics cannot be separated from each other. Without a proper logistics infrastructure, proper e-commerce cannot be done; The growth we want to see in the company will not happen. We are ready to provide you with access to larger markets with logistics investments.”
Zeyoudi continued: “There are two issues that I would like to highlight. We are in Istanbul for free trade agreements. You mentioned that Trendyol has an e-export target of $100 million to the UAE until the end of this year. I am sure that after signing the free trade agreements between the two regions, you can achieve much higher figures than you planned. We look forward to the opportunity to conclude more free trade agreements in this region and Africa as part of our strategy. In this context, we will also open a market for your presence in the UAE. Not only that, but we are also committed to supporting the Southeast countries you mentioned in free trade with us. By encouraging these countries to participate in free trade, we will coordinate their operations through the UAE. At the same time, if we cannot direct SMEs to e-commerce, then we cannot create employment, which is our main goal. This is what we want to do globally. You have warehouses and employees around the world. We are excited to discover what we can do together and the gap we will fill in e-commerce. I know your team is doing a great job. As the UAE government, we are ready to support.”
WE WILL BRING TURKISH MANUFACTURERS AND TRADERS TOGETHER WITH THE WORLD
Trendyol Co-Founder Begum Tekin said, “We are very pleased with the visit of Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates. In our last investment round, Softbank, General Atlantic, ADQ and Chimera Investment joined us and we are working closely with them. They give us great support for our plans in the region, especially e-export. Our goal is to build new bridges that will bring together our 260 thousand sellers, Turkish manufacturers and brands, most of which are tradesmen and SMEs, with the world. We want to mediate the growth of the high-quality production capacity of Turkish manufacturers and brands in global markets and to increase the foreign exchange inflow to our country. By 2023, we foresee that the e-export between Turkey and the UAE will reach $100 million. We will also establish e-export bridges between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.”
Talking about Trendyol’s global e-export plans, Tekin said; “With e-export, we increase our country’s export revenues and the number of exporters, while offering Turkish manufacturers the opportunity to sell to billions of consumers abroad. We bring Turkish manufacturers and their products together with the whole world through our own platform or through global e-commerce marketplaces. Domestic production products are sold in more than 50 global marketplaces through Trendyol. In 2021, we received a total of 6 million orders. Again in 2021, we exported to nearly 100 countries in a very wide geography, from Europe to the Middle East and Africa. We expect our e-export volume to reach $1 billion in 2023. Our goal is to become the leading e-commerce company in the EMEA Region by growing domestic manufacturers and brands in global markets. In this direction, we will invest $500 million in the next three years in the focus of technology, logistics and marketing.”
Source: NTV / Translated by Irem Yildiz