A major trade exhibition is currently underway in Istanbul, Turkey, with organizers expecting over 100,000 people – primarily businessmen and entrepreneurs – from 124 countries to attend.
The event, dubbed MUSIAD Expo, aims to bring Turkey closer to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s $300 billion export target for 2023.
MUSAID, a conglomerate of Türkiye’s independent industrialists and business associations, is hosting its 19th edition, and has attracted purchasing delegations from 60 countries, which the organisers say will be instrumental in enhancing cooperation and trade links with investors abroad.
“We are very proud to be here and to represent Belarus and our products. MUSIAD is a huge exhibition and there are a lot of visitors. We hope to find good partners here,” Andrei Laurukevich, chief specialist of the Department of Foreign Economic Relations in Belarus, said.
Abdullah Eris, the chief executive officer of a caravan-making firm Serm & Barr, said, “This is our first time attending MUSIAD Expo. But I have known about the exhibition from much earlier. This is a global expo, there are too many people coming from all around the world. So, we have good expectations.”
While delivering the opening remarks at the fair, MUSIAD President Mahmut Asmali emphasized the importance of elevating the country’s export vision.
“We aim to create a business connection of approximately $5 billion with the cooperation and investment projections to be realized within the framework of MUSIAD Expo,” he said. “We strongly believe that the meetings to be held within the framework of MUSIAD Expo will yield positive results.”
Meanwhile, Oguz Atik, managing director of HD Fitout, a construction company that imports Ethiopian coffee on the side, was overwhelmed by the response.
“There are visitors from more than 100 countries,” he said. “Coffee is a worldwide commodity. Many people are very interested and they are taking samples, asking for prices. We are so hopeful that we are having new contacts.”
The MUSIAD Expo takes place at a time when the world’s major economies are still reeling from the effects of the pandemic years. Despite the challenges, Türkiye was able to sustain its economy, which was echoed by the president of Türkiye’s Foreign Economic Relations Board, or DEIK, at the exhibition.
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