Launch of preparatory work for the 11th Development Plan held at Beştepe...

The 11th Development Plan, which will guide the economic and social policies that Turkey will implement over the next five years, was introduced at the Beştepe National Congress and Culture Center of the Presidential Complex, with the attendance of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Board Members Taner Yallagöz and Dr. Faik Öztunç attended the program on behalf of our Association.

Speaking at the introduction meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "I believe that nations that do not plan their own future are doomed to become part of the plans of others," and emphasized the importance of making development planned.

President Erdoğan emphasized that the achievements they had made in the field of development over their 15 years in power far exceeded those of the entire history of the republic, saying, "This outcome is also proof of how right we were to believe in and trust our nation."

Noting that they had raised the educational level and productivity of the workforce while also increasing the inclusiveness of the social security umbrella, Erdoğan said, "The definition of poverty and income inequality in our country has changed greatly. Today, being 'poor' no longer means being unable to find food or bread; it means remaining below a certain level of prosperity. Likewise, in order to build a healthy society, we have improved many fundamental indicators in a positive direction, foremost among them reducing child mortality and improving maternal health."

Saying, "As is known, Turkey is not rich in natural resources compared to many countries in our region," President Erdoğan continued, "We need to recognize this fact. On the other hand, we have a very good track record in industrialization based on knowledge and technology. We are now moving beyond the vicious cycle of yesterday's textile- and agriculture-based industry toward a technology-intensive industry. We have largely established a manufacturing industry infrastructure capable of producing medium-high technology products. Now we need a leap that will increase the share of high-technology-based production in industry. Of course, we are also never neglecting the principle of sustainability."

Noting that, on the one hand, they were making the energy investments required by industrialization while, on the other hand, working to develop Turkey's resources, Erdoğan said, "Raising our per capita national income from around 3,500 dollars to 11,000 dollars is truly a historic achievement. We did not arrive here by chance; we got here through effort." Erdoğan said that Turkey had made 17 billion liras of public investment in 2002, but that they had now increased this figure sevenfold, raising it to 128 billion liras in 2017.

Erdoğan summed up 15 years

At the 11th Development Plan Introduction Meeting, President Erdoğan also summarized the accomplishments of the 15-year AK Party government. He described what had been done, from transportation to investments.

Noting that they had brought distant places closer particularly through transportation investments, Erdoğan said that they had increased the total length of the divided road network, which stood at 6,100 kilometers built over 79 years, to 26,000 kilometers after 2002.

Stating that they had increased the High-Speed Train lines, which did not exist in Turkey in 2002, to 1,213 kilometers in 2017, Erdoğan said, "Was there a high-speed train? No. But now we have our high-speed train. These did not happen by chance; if we had sat back idly, these would not have happened. But we thought, we worked, we ran, we searched, we found, we brought it to our country, and we made these investments."

Underlining that this figure would soon double with the lines still under construction, Erdoğan reported that they had increased the number of airports open to flights from 26 in 2002 to 55. Erdoğan said, "We are not content with this; we are also currently continuing the construction of the new airport."

Drawing attention to the fact that natural gas was used in 6 provinces in 2002, while as of the end of 2017 natural gas access was available in 78 provinces, Erdoğan said, "A modern country, a contemporary country, does not come about through words. This is what a modern country looks like. You equip every corner of the country with natural gas, and you become a modern country. What did our mothers go through? My mother used to carry coal from the ground floor of a 5-story apartment building, and not only did she carry coal, but there was also its soot, smoke, dirt, and so on. What hardships they endured with these. A stove in one room and nothing else. We lived through these, we were raised this way, we came this way. But now you look, with natural gas you just press a button, the whole apartment heats up, all the hot water comes. This is what it means to be modern. Being modern is not just words. Being modern is reflecting this in your lifestyle. If you do it this way, it happens."

Erdoğan: Turkey is no longer just any country

Using the expression "Turkey is no longer just any country," Erdoğan underlined that another area to be proudly boasted of was the advances in the defense industry. Erdoğan stated that whereas in 2002 Turkey was carrying out 66 defense projects with a domestic content rate of approximately 20 percent, in 2017 it had come to conduct 600 projects with a domestic content rate of over 65 percent. President Erdoğan said, "The goal is a strong economy based on innovative, domestic, and national production."

The goal is to enter the world's top ten economies

Explaining that they had developed the 2023 vision to make the Turkish economy one of the world's 10 largest economies on the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the republic, Erdoğan said, "Today, with five years left until 2023, we are now at the stage of adopting and setting forth longer-term goals. We have set the 2053 and 2071 visions as our horizon line. As we walk with sure steps toward this horizon, we have also put 2033, which expresses more of a medium-term planning, on our agenda."

Noting that Turkey had a young and dynamic population, Erdoğan recalled that he frequently used the phrase "at least three children" in order to preserve this situation. Saying, "Our young population must not age, must not grow old," Erdoğan emphasized that the source of the economy is people, that if there are people there is employment, and that without them nothing would exist. For this reason, Erdoğan called for great importance to be placed especially on births.

Noting that they were determined to raise the level of development to that of developed countries by improving the quality of young people's education and training and the qualifications of the workforce, Erdoğan recalled that he had dined the previous evening with Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov. Saying that Ivanov had used the expression "The West is finishing," Erdoğan related that when he asked the reason for this, Ivanov said, "Its population is finishing, that's why. An aging population cannot go anywhere from now on."

The 11th Development Plan will be the destination point of the 2023 goals

President Erdoğan underlined the need to make the best use of the 11th Development Plan period, which would cover the next five years and be the destination point of the 2023 goals. Stating that in this period quality would be the top priority in every step taken, from ways of doing business to investments, and from public services to urbanization, Erdoğan said, "We are determined to move our country up to a higher league in every field, from physical infrastructure to technology, from education to health, from security to justice and to our democracy. To this end, we are making multidimensional, dynamic, and intelligent plans worthy of our people, who are both the very purpose and at the same time the means of development. Drawing on our past experience, we are setting ambitious and realistic goals aimed at the wishes and needs of all segments of our society. Within this scope, we aim to create, during the 11th Development Plan period, a strong economic structure that is based on innovative, domestic, and national production and that has come to produce high technology. With this structure, we aim to have a say in many high-value-added sectors, foremost among them defense industry, pharmaceuticals, and software."

Prime Minister Yıldırım: The 11th Development Plan will carry us into the future

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım also gave a speech at the 11th Development Plan Introduction Meeting. In his speech, Yıldırım noted that a distinctive feature of the development plan that would cover the 2019-2023 period, setting it apart from the others, was that the republic would enter its 100th year with this plan.

Touching on the fact that this was a plan that would enable the 2023 goals to be monitored, tracked, and achieved, Prime Minister Yıldırım stated that another feature of the plan was that it was a plan under which the Presidential system of government, brought about following the referendum held on April 16, 2017, would also de facto come into effect, and that this plan would begin to be implemented as of 2019.

Emphasizing that a period would be experienced in which the new legislative and executive system would operate under this plan, Prime Minister Yıldırım noted that commissions had been established and experts had worked in many fields, from the economy to justice services, from education to energy, and from transportation to communications.

Stating that 3,500 people had been giving their minds to the Development Plan and continued to do so, Yıldırım said, "All the work will be finished by the middle of this year, after which we will send it to Parliament. From the moment of our Parliament's approval, the plan will enter into force at the beginning of 2019. Another feature of the 11th Development Plan is this: during the period this plan is in effect, very significant changes will take place in the world and in Turkey."

Prime Minister Yıldırım noted that one of the priority goals of the 11th Development Plan was to further increase national income, recalling that, as of today, Turkey had become the world's 13th largest economy according to purchasing power parity. Pointing out that per capita national income had risen above 25,000 dollars according to purchasing power parity, Yıldırım stated that they were not content with this and that the 2023 goal was to take its place among the world's most distinguished countries.

Prime Minister: We will continue to integrate our country with the world

Prime Minister Yıldırım emphasized that, with the 11th Development Plan, infrastructure investments in main sectors such as information technology, energy, transportation, and agriculture would continue, and that by this means more would be produced, and more employment and trade would be carried out. Yıldırım said, "With new roads, tunnels, bridges, railways, and airports, we will continue to integrate our country with the world. We have very great opportunities ahead of us to enhance our competitiveness, facilitate trade, particularly expand e-commerce, and further increase our country's effectiveness in transit transportation."

Elvan: The 11th Development Plan will be the plan of all of Turkey

Speaking at the meeting, Minister of Development Lütfi Elvan provided information on the preparation stage of the plan. Stating that very meticulous work had been carried out for a year to prepare the plan that would cover the 2019-2023 period, Minister Elvan said that 250 meetings had been held in 81 provinces under the coordination of the Ministry of Development and the Development Agencies.

Minister of Development Lütfi Elvan stated that they were striving to continuously improve the participation processes for the 11th Development Plan, the preparatory work for which was ongoing, saying, "The 11th Development Plan will be the plan not only of our Ministry, not only of the public sector, nor only of the relevant parties who provide contributions and participation, but of all our citizens, of all of Turkey."

Stating that they had launched the official process of the plan work on July 29, 2017 with the circular issued by Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Elvan reported that the work was being carried out with a participatory approach.

Emphasizing that they were striving to continuously improve the participation processes, Elvan said, "With this awareness, during the preparation stage we are taking care to gather the ideas of as broad an audience as possible."

Touching on the steps they had taken to date within the scope of the plan preparations, Elvan explained that, in the first stage, more than 3,500 participants had taken part in 43 special expert commissions and working groups covering different themes and sectors. Stating that the reporting process would be completed by the end of this month, Elvan said, "This comprehensive work will shed light on the determination of the policies, goals, and strategies that will be included in our plan. Within the scope of the plan preparations, we are also taking the pulse of our provinces and following local dynamics very closely. To this end, under the coordination of our Ministry and our development agencies, we held 250 meetings with over 12,000 participants in our 81 provinces. In addition to these, through meetings in our 7 regions that I will personally attend, we will make general assessments and clarify our regional priorities."

Elvan: We secured the participation of 27,500 people

Stating that, within the scope of the plan work, they had come together with representatives of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey's Plan and Budget Commission and the Agriculture, Forestry, and Village Affairs Commission, Elvan said that they would also meet with members of the other relevant commissions. Emphasizing that they attached considerable importance to the direct participation of citizens in the plan work, Elvan reported that, to this end, they had created a survey on the Ministry's website, and that through this survey they had gained the opportunity to obtain the nation's development priorities for Turkey and its policy preferences regarding these priorities.

Pointing out that they had received the views and contributions of 15,500 people through the special expert commissions and regional meetings, and of 12,000 people through the citizen survey, Elvan said, "In other words, we have so far secured the participation of 27,500 people in our plan work."

Stating that they saw the 11th Development Plan, which would carry the republic into its 100th year, as a serious opportunity for the country, Elvan said, "Within the scope of the plan work, we are developing proposals aimed at becoming a more dynamic and highly competitive society that works with its individuals and institutions, further accelerates decision-making processes, produces more, and creates high added value."

Elvan reported that the 11th Development Plan, encompassing the vision, strategy, and policies, would be completed in June, submitted to Parliament, and put into effect as of 2019.