Economy
At Davos, economic leaders say growth resilient despite Trump disruption
Leading global economic policymakers at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos urged countries and businesses to filter out the turmoil from a week of clashes with the Trump administration and focus on boosting growth and fighting inequality in a world where trade will continue to flow and international cooperation is still badly needed.
The global economy is showing unexpected resilience despite the noise, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Kristalina Georgieva and World Trade Organization (WTO) head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a panel discussion. But while growth is holding up, troubles like worrisome levels of government debt and inequality loom.
That resilience is holding up despite disruptions from U.S. trade policy under President Donald Trump, who roiled the weeklong forum with threats to impose tariffs on countries supporting Greenland against a U.S. takeover bid, then withdrew the tariff proposal.
What is now needed, they said, are efforts to boost growth to offset heavy debt levels around the world and ensure that disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence don’t worsen inequality or devastate labor markets. And Europe needs to boost productivity and improve its business climate for investment.
Georgieva said the IMF’s recently raised forecast of 3.3% global growth for this year was “beautiful but not enough… do not fall into complacency.”
She said that level of growth wasn’t enough to wear down “the debt that is hanging around our necks” and that governments need to take care of “those who are falling off the wagon.”
“We have to look at Plan B, or Plans B,” said Lagarde. “I think we’ve had a lot of noise this week… and we need to distinguish the signal from the noise… we should be talking about alternatives.”
‘Euro-bashers’
After a week of hearing various officials denigrate Europe, its leaders and its regulations at Davos, Lagarde said that the harsh words could be just what the continent needed.
Lagarde had walked out of a Davos dinner during a speech critical of Europe by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Among the more rankling comments was U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s quip in a TV interview dismissing “the dreaded European working group” in response to potential U.S. tariffs aimed at seeking control of Greenland.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, blasted the EU’s lack of “political will” in countering Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“Instead of becoming a truly global power, Europe remains a beautiful but fragmented kaleidoscope of small and middle powers,” Zelenskyy said during his address at the WEF.
Lagarde said such criticism meant Europe would have to face tough realities and find alternative ways of working to make sure it carries weight on the global stage.
“I think we should say thank you to the bashers,” she said.
“It has given us a complete realisation of the fact that we have to be more focused, we have to work on those Plan Bs that I was talking about, and we have to focus on innovation, improvement of productivity, and the rest of it.”
Lagarde downplayed a provocative speech at the forum from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who called Trump’s approach a “rupture” with an international order based on rules, trade and cooperation and said that way of doing business was “not coming back.”
“From an economic and business point of view we depend on each other,” she said.
Carney called on nations to accept that a rules-based global order was over and great powers were abandoning even the pretence of following international agreements.
Quoting ancient Greek historian Thucydides, Carney said the world was entering a period in which “the strong can do what they can and the weak must suffer what they must.”
“I’m not exactly on the same page as Mark,” Lagarde said. “I’m not sure that we should be talking about rupture.”
“I think we should be talking about alternatives. We should be identifying, much more so than we have probably in the past, the weaknesses, the sore points, the dependencies, the autonomy,” she said.
Old order not returning
WTO’s Okonji-Oweal said that uncertainty was unlikely to remain as high as this month, when Trump threatened to take over Greenland from NATO ally Denmark.
But the old order was also not going to return, uncertainty would linger and countries must invest in their own resilience, she said.
“I don’t think we’ll go back to where we were. But they will not be as bad and maybe we’ll have a slightly better, steady state for the future,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
If I was running a country, I’d be trying to strengthen myself and my region, and I’d be looking at my region and then building resilience.”
Okonji-Oweal pointed out that 72% of global trade still takes place under WTO rules, where countries agree to charge all trading partners the same tariffs. That’s despite “the biggest disruption in 80 years.”
“Resiliency is built into the system, and that is showing up,” she said.
IMF’s Georgieva argued that change was natural and has been happening for years, and it was time to embrace this because shocks would keep happening.
She offered a historical perspective: “We have always traded and we will always trade. Trade is like a river, water. You put obstacle, it goes around it. Yes, it would be different, but there would be always the necessity of Dr. Ngozi to look over world trade.”
Georgieva also conceded things had changed for good: “How many of you have seen the movie, “The Wizard of Oz?”…. We are not Kansas any more.”
Japan’s economy lost momentum in the second quarter and fell short of market forecasts, as subdued household and business spending highlighted the fragility of the recovery as the war in the Middle East darkens the outlook.
However, long-term bond yields hit a three-decade high as investors brushed aside the soft reading as reflecting one-off factors, and focused more on mounting inflationary risks that could prod the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to raise interest rates next month.
Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 1.1% in annualized terms, government data showed on Monday, missing a median market estimate of 2% and below an upwardly revised 1.9% expansion in the previous quarter.
While the data revealed some temporary soft patches in demand, analysts say robust underlying momentum and persistent price pressures are likely to keep the case for imminent interest rate hikes intact.
“Today’s GDP data was a bit weak but the economy is likely to continue recovering moderately,” said Naoki Hattori, chief Japan economist at Mizuho Research Institute. “Given risks of underlying inflation overshooting its target, the BOJ is likely to proceed with a rate hike next month.”
The BOJ is expected to raise rates as soon as September and is said to be considering hiking more aggressively thereafter to avoid being behind the curve on inflation.
The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) yield rose for a sixth straight session on Monday to hit a 30-year high of 2.925%, as investors continued to price in BOJ rate hikes sooner and faster than earlier expected.
Private consumption was the biggest disappointment in the GDP data, falling 0.02% versus market expectations for a 0.5% increase, the first drop in eight quarters.
Analysts said the weakness was due in part to lower school fees households paid thanks to subsidies, which pushed down headline private consumption but lifted government spending.
Capital spending, a key driver of private demand, fell 1.2% in the second quarter, confounding market forecasts for a 0.4% increase. However, capital expenditure, as well as overall preliminary GDP, tend to be revised higher with updated figures.
Exports remained resilient thanks to solid U.S. demand for Japanese hybrid vehicles and sustained global investment in artificial intelligence that supported shipments of semiconductor-related equipment and components.
Net external demand, or exports minus imports, added 0.5 percentage point to growth, largely because imports fell sharply after temporary disruptions to crude oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
“I don’t think the BOJ would be too worried about today’s GDP data as the economy is showing remarkable resilience to headwinds from the Iran war,” said Yoshiki Shinke, senior executive economist at Daiichi Life Research Institute.
The government maintained its sanguine view on the economy.
“The economy remains on a moderate recovery path, with export-driven growth offsetting weakness in domestic demand,” Economy Minister Minoru Kiuchi said in a statement.
Outlook murky
Looking ahead, analysts cautioned that rising import costs and mounting upstream price pressures could eventually feed through to consumers, posing a risk to spending later this year.
Aside from rising fuel costs from the Middle East conflict, a weak yen has lifted import prices and broader cost-of-living for households, posing a headache for policymakers.
Such price pressures have led to a flurry of hawkish comments from BOJ policymakers that bolstered the case for an early rate hike.
The government has sought to cushion the blow to households from rising living costs with subsidies, though rising bond yields may prevent it from ramping up fiscal spending any further, some analysts say.
That spells trouble for consumption, which is mostly holding up so far as a tight job market prods firms to offer higher pay.
“Government subsidies have helped contain consumer inflation so far, but a weaker yen and higher crude oil import costs raise the likelihood of broader price hikes from the autumn onward,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.
A survey this month by the Japan Center for Economic Research showed 37 economists forecast annualized GDP growth to slow to an average 0.05% in the July-September quarter.
“The boost to consumption from policy measures is already fading, and inflation will increase in H2 as firms will pass on increased costs, deteriorating consumers’ purchasing power,” Oxford Economics wrote in a research note.
“Although AI-related goods exports will continue to stay robust in the near term, sluggish non-AI related global economic activities will limit overall export gains.”
German companies’ investments in the U.S. have dropped to a three-year low in the first half of 2026, as Trump administration policies continue to raise uncertainty and pose risk for trade between the key trans-Atlantic partners, data shows.
First-half direct investments plunged by nearly two-thirds year-over-year to 4.3 billion euros ($5 billion), the lowest level since 2023, according to calculations by the German Economic Institute (IW), seen by Reuters.
Compared with the same period in 2024, that represents a drop of nearly 80%, said the report, which is based on data from Germany’s central bank.
“This continues the downward trend that has been evident since the start of Donald Trump’s second term in January 2025,” IW researcher Samina Sultan told Reuters.
Since returning to office, Trump has threatened most of the United States’ international trading partners with import tariffs in an attempt to secure concessions favourable to Washington.
In a bid to avoid heavy duties on its exports to the U.S., for example, the European Union agreed a deal last year that included a $600 billion investment pledge.
In the five years before the COVID-19 pandemic, first-half investments by German companies in the U.S. averaged 15.8 billion euros, the data showed, almost four times the 2026 level.
That said, the 2020 to 2023 period was shaped by the “exceptional circumstance” of the pandemic, Sultan said, with some years marked by net investment outflows.
The researchers also examined the composition of investment flows over 2025 and found that both direct-investment loans and reinvested earnings were exceptionally high, while equity capital in the narrower sense – the balance of new investments and liquidations – remained below average.
“Companies that are already active in the United States are therefore continuing to reinvest the profits they earn there in the country,” Sultan said.
“This suggests that the U.S. remains an attractive market overall.”
However, companies were hesitant to commit new capital, she said.
For more than a century, cafes in the Italian northern city of Padua have grown accustomed in welcoming customers for an early evening drink, or aperitivo, encouraging them to sit outside and socialize just at the time before dinner.
As Europe bakes under its fifth heat wave of the year, the traditional 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. slot has all but disappeared as people seek air-conditioning indoors, cutting sales for many hospitality businesses.
Adding to the pressure, extreme heat often falls outside traditional business interruption insurance, exposing a growing protection gap for companies across Europe.
Moody’s has published estimates that last summer’s European heat waves cost 43 billion euros ($50 billion) in lost economic output while generating only about 500 million euros of insured payouts.
In Padua, aperitivo often now starts later, “which means that the outdoor seating areas, the terraces, the spaces outside … are left unused and empty,” said Federica Luni, president of hospitality association APPE Padova.
According to a survey of about 600 hospitality businesses in the city and its province, more than 80% reported turnover declines of around 20% during the recent heatwave.
“A 20% decline wipes out your margin,” Luni said.
Toll on economy
Heat waves are increasingly taking a toll on Europe’s economy, reducing productivity, curbing consumer spending and raising operating costs.
For insurers, such losses can be difficult to cover because they often stem from indirect operational disruption rather than property damage.
“Heat in itself is not a traditionally insured risk,” said Swenja Surminski, managing director for climate and sustainability at Marsh.
“Extreme heat rarely causes catastrophic physical damage the way a flood or a storm does, but the financial operational disruption that it triggers can be just as severe.”
A 2023 survey of 9,000 small and medium-sized firms for Europe’s insurance regulator found 28% held business interruption cover as part of their property insurance, while 17% had non-damage business interruption protection covering events such as strike action.
The protection gap is widening as the economic costs of extreme heat mount. Trains are delayed, agricultural yields fall and factory cooling costs rise, while workers often struggle to maintain productivity during prolonged spells of extreme temperatures.
Companies that flagged a hit from hot weather or warned about its potential future impact when reporting second-quarter earnings included Swedish shop-fitting provider ITAB Group, Italian cement producer Buzzi and French payments firm Worldline.
Compound risk
Heat often acts as a compound risk, interacting with drought, wildfire and water shortages rather than triggering a single identifiable loss event. That makes it harder to model and insure than some other natural catastrophes.
The challenge is particularly acute in Europe, the fastest-warming continent. Reuters Climate Monitor showed the average temperature across Western Europe was nearly 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1961 to 1990 average on Aug. 11.
Data compiled by environmental disclosure platform CDP showed 35% of companies it tracks identified heatwaves as a risk driver, led by businesses in manufacturing, services, infrastructure and food-related sectors.
While insurance may cover some physical losses linked to events such as power outages, businesses often say compensation does little to offset lost sales and reduced customer activity.
“The real loss is the revenue you don’t make and the business activity that never takes place because of the outage,” Luni said.
To bridge the gap, insurers are increasingly exploring parametric products that pay out automatically when temperatures exceed predefined thresholds. Unlike traditional indemnity-based insurance, such policies do not require a lengthy loss-adjustment process.
The European market for parametric insurance is expected to reach $7.93 billion by 2031, according to a report by KBV Research, with compound annual growth of 9.5% between 2025 and 2032.
Such policies are already being used in agriculture, where heat can reduce crop yields or livestock productivity, and industry experts see scope for expansion into sectors including transport and workforce protection.
“Parametric insurance can really play a role,” said Aidan Kerr, head of U.K. and Ireland public sector solutions at Swiss Re.
Even so, many companies will need to focus primarily on adapting their operations to withstand more frequent periods of extreme heat through measures such as investing in cooling technologies, redesigning workplaces and stress-testing supply chains, Marsh’s Surminski said.
“Take action to avoid the losses rather than address them once they’ve occurred.”
Over nearly a quarter-century, Türkiye’s defense sector has transformed from foreign-dependent licensed manufacturing into a high-capacity industry driven by high domestic content and robust global exports.
The transformation coincides with the 25-year period of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which marked its anniversary on Friday.
Türkiye now develops a broad range of indigenous platforms and systems, invests in critical technologies and exports high-value-added products across the globe.
In 2002, Türkiye had only 56 defense firms and some 62 projects underway. Those figures today stand at more than 4,500 and 1,400, respectively.
The total project volume skyrocketed from $5.5 billion in 2002 to over $100 billion today.
Defense and aerospace exports surged from just $248 million to $10.05 billion in 2025.
Shipments hit $5.79 billion in the first seven months of 2026 and totaled $11.2 billion on an annualized basis as of July.
Türkiye is currently the world’s 11th-largest defense exporter and is close to breaking into the ranks of the top 10.
For much of the past two decades, Ankara has expressed frustration over its Western allies’ failure to provide adequate defense systems against missile threats despite Türkiye being a major NATO member.
That prompted it to invest billions of dollars to transform from a nation heavily reliant on equipment from abroad to one that is a major exporter and where homegrown systems now meet almost all of its defense industry needs.
Its research and development spending increased from $49 million in 2002 to over $3.5 billion, while the domestically produced content ratio increased from 20% to more than 85%.
Shift to domestic development
The Turkish defense sector provides direct employment to over 100,000 people, and the average age of a defense industry worker is 34.
Turkish defense was dominated by off-the-shelf purchases, licensed production and technology transfer in the early 2000s. This trend gradually shifted to promote domestic development, homegrown original design and the localization of critical subsystems.
The sector’s scope of operations expanded as project scales grew, with a broad range of products and technologies emerging, such as armored vehicles, conventional platforms, unmanned systems, warships, jet aircraft, air defense systems, radar and electronic warfare systems, smart munitions, engines, space technology and advanced electronics.
The Turkish defense and aerospace industry made around $1.1 billion in revenue in 2002, while this figure exceeded $20 billion by 2026.
Unmanned aerial vehicles
Unmanned aerial vehicles have been one of the most significant areas of transformation over the past 25 years.
Defense firm Baykar’s Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle became one of the most symbolic breakthroughs in Turkish defense.
The combat drones earned worldwide fame after proving their capabilities in several conflicts, including Syria, Libya, Karabakh and Ukraine.
Their success eventually helped Türkiye become one of the world’s top drone exporters.
Baykar’s multirole Bayraktar Akıncı platform further improved Türkiye’s drone capabilities with its high payload capacity, long range, advanced sensors and heavy munitions integration.
Baykar’s Bayraktar Kızılelma carried Türkiye’s drone expertise into the unmanned fighter jet area by combining high speed, air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities and the ability to operate from short-runway ships.
Turkish Aerospace Industries’ Anka and Aksungur unmanned combat aerial vehicles contributed to the development of high-altitude, long-endurance and strategic reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities of Turkish drones by integrating satellite communications, homegrown electro-optical systems, munitions and engines.
Growing aviation industry
The Turkish Aerospace Industries’ under-development twin-engine stealth fighter Kaan and the Hürjet jet trainer also marked major milestones in Türkiye’s manned aviation.
The Kaan is one of the most technologically ambitious programs in Turkish aviation with its low observability, advanced avionics, mission computer, radar and system integration.
The Hürjet was developed to provide a homegrown trainer platform to advance the country’s capability to develop manned military aircraft.
The Turkish Aerospace Industries T129 Atak helicopter’s product and system integration experience translated into the homegrown T625 Gökbey helicopter, marking a giant leap in rotary-wing technologies.
State-of-the-art naval defense
Beyond aerial systems, Türkiye’s national ship project, called MILGEM, laid the foundation for domestic naval platform design, ranging from corvettes to frigates.
Advancements in combat management systems, sensors and weapon integration became key to ensuring independence and export capacity in naval defense.
The TF-2000 anti-air warfare guided-missile destroyer extended the Turkish Navy’s air defense capabilities to the high seas through its long-range air defense and advanced radar and weapon-sensor integration.
The unique naval engineering capabilities Türkiye gained through the MILGEM project enabled the development of the country’s domestic submarine project, called MILDEN, to develop underwater platforms.
The partnership between the TCG Anadolu drone carrier assault ship and the Bayraktar TB3 combat drone introduced a new sea-air operations concept to the Turkish defense industry, integrating amphibious capabilities with a UAV capable of operating from short runways.
Missile defense systems
Meanwhile, Türkiye’s air defense architecture also grew with Roketsan and Aselsan’s Hisar and Siper missile systems, which contributed to a layered air defense architecture combining integrated sensors, command-and-control systems and missile systems within a single domestic architecture against various threats at low, medium and high altitudes.
Türkiye’s multilayered air defense system, Steel Dome, has been developed by bringing together radars, electro-optical sensors, electronic warfare components, command-and-control infrastructure and air defense weapons of various ranges under a common network.
Roketsan’s Som, Atmaca and Kara Atmaca developed long-range precision strike capabilities for air, sea and land platforms, while the same firm’s Tayfun missile introduced the ability to engage long-range and precision land targets, boosting Türkiye’s strategic deterrence.
Turkish defense also evolved in surface vehicles, with the main battle tank Altay establishing a broad industrial ecosystem around critical technologies, such as armor, active protection, fire control and power packs, while also highlighting the strategic importance of reducing foreign dependence on engines and power packs.
Aselsan’s Koral electronic warfare system and other homegrown radar systems enhanced the effectiveness of air, land and sea platforms in modern warfare through radar detection, electronic jamming, early warning and sensor superiority.
Indigenous technologies
Meanwhile, the PD170, TF6000 and KTJ engine projects brought power system developments for UAV engines, turbofans, cruise missile engines and more.
These projects have been key to ensuring platform independence in defense through indigenous engine technologies.
At the same time, Turkish defense transformed its export model from direct product sales to a broader approach that includes training, maintenance and sustainment, system integration, co-production and technology cooperation.
Turkish defense products are exported to some 185 countries, and around 230 different product types are actively used worldwide.
The sector’s primary goal this year is to further independence efforts in critical technologies, establish high-volume mass production capacity and permanently expand its share in the global market.
Business partnerships should complement the strong political relations between Türkiye and Pakistan, Khawaja Khurram Naeem, the Consul General of Pakistan in Istanbul, said on Thursday, also pointing to the potential of the Pakistani economy and a push to encourage investment and growth.
“We strongly believe that government-to-government cooperation must be complemented by the robust business-to-business engagement,” Naeem said in an address to the “Global Excellence Award Ceremony,” organized by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in Istanbul.
Starting his speech, the consul general noted that the close relationship between Türkiye and Pakistan, two brotherly countries, is “based on a shared history, mutual trust, and a common vision for economic prosperity.”
He added that the business forum provided an important opportunity to further strengthen commercial and investment ties between the two nations.
Pointing to positive developments in Pakistan’s economy, Naeem said the Islamabad government has taken important steps to encourage investment and create a more business-friendly environment.
“The government’s commitment to gradually reducing the corporate tax rate to a more competitive level demonstrates the determination to encourage investment and economic growth,” he added.
He also went on to highlight the potential for regional cooperation involving Türkiye, Pakistan and Central Asia amid the changing geopolitical landscape.
Naeem said Pakistan has particularly significant potential in the textile and ready-made garment sectors, while also noting that the country has extensive production capacity and a young population.
“Sustainable economic growth can only be achieved through active cooperation between the private sectors of both countries, reciprocal visits, and the establishment of long-term partnerships,” he said.
Naeem invited business representatives to explore new opportunities, forge new connections, and develop mutually beneficial partnerships through the forum.
In his speech, Naeem also thanked all the institutions that contributed to organizing the event, particularly the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO), and other Turkish partners, and expressed hope that economic activities between Pakistan and Türkiye would continue to grow stronger.
At the event, the business leaders recalled that the current bilateral trade volume between Türkiye and Pakistan of around $1.2 billion is relatively modest and urged for more steps, including more B2B meetings and reciprocal visits, to elevate the cooperation.
South Korean automaker Hyundai on Friday started mass production of its new all-electric IONIQ 3 model at a factory in Türkiye’s northwestern Kocaeli province.
It makes Hyundai the first foreign automaker to manufacture battery-powered passenger cars in Türkiye and also marks the company’s first EV production in Europe.
The launch represents a significant step in Türkiye’s strategy to position itself as a regional production hub for electric vehicles and battery technologies while attracting new investments in next-generation mobility.
Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır said the investment demonstrates growing international confidence in Türkiye’s manufacturing capabilities and industrial ecosystem.
“The investment is one of the most concrete outcomes of our vision to make Türkiye one of the leading countries in next-generation mobility technologies,” Kacır told the start-of-production ceremony at Hyundai Motor Türkiye’s Izmit plant.
In June, Hyundai also announced it would build a new 55 million euros ($63.8 million) battery assembly facility that it says will strengthen the investment in the production of the IONIQ 3.
The facility will assemble battery packs using automated systems in cooperation with Hyundai Mobis.
“An international automaker is producing a fully electric passenger vehicle in our country for the first time,” said Kacır.
“The accompanying battery investment demonstrates that Türkiye has crossed an important threshold in its goal of becoming a global production hub for electric vehicles and battery technologies.”
Hyundai is investing approximately 250 million euros in the project and will initially produce 30,000 IONIQ 3 vehicles annually at the Izmit facility.
The plant has operated in Türkiye for nearly three decades and is Hyundai’s first and longest-running overseas manufacturing facility outside South Korea.
It has produced 13 different models and about 3.3 million vehicles since operations began in 1997. The Izmit plant currently produces the i20 and Bayon models.
Government investment incentives have helped expand the factory’s annual production capacity from 50,000 vehicles in 2002 to 230,000 today.
Hyundai Motor Group plans to invest $90 billion globally by 2030, launching 21 fully electric and 13 hybrid models.
Building on Türkiye’s automotive industry
Kacır said the automotive industry has become one of the main pillars of Turkish manufacturing, increasing annual production from 357,000 vehicles to 1.5 million over the past 23 years.
Automotive exports have risen to $41.5 billion from $4.8 billion in 2002.
The sector directly employs around 60,000 workers in vehicle manufacturing and nearly 250,000 in the supplier industry.
Kacır said the government views the global shift toward electrification, connected vehicles and autonomous driving technologies as an opportunity to strengthen Türkiye’s industrial competitiveness.
He reiterated that the domestically developed Togg electric vehicle project was conceived not only as a car brand but as the foundation of a broader mobility ecosystem encompassing battery technologies, software, power electronics and charging infrastructure.
“The success of our new mobility vision depends on expanding the transformation initiated by Togg across the entire automotive industry,” he said.
“It is therefore extremely important that global manufacturers already producing in Türkiye direct their next-generation mobility investments to our country.”
EV market expanding rapidly
Türkiye’s domestic electric vehicle market has also grown rapidly.
Kacır said more than 450,000 electric vehicles are currently on Turkish roads, while fully electric models account for more than 17% of local vehicle sales this year.
The government expects the number of electric vehicles in circulation to exceed 1.5 million by 2030.
Kacır said Türkiye offers international investors significant advantages, including a large domestic market of 86 million people, a $1.6 trillion economy, an extensive supplier network and logistics infrastructure, as well as preferential access to around one billion consumers through the customs union with the European Union and free trade agreements.
Kacır said Hyundai’s investment is expected to encourage additional next-generation mobility projects and attract further foreign investment, particularly from South Korean companies.
“We hope Hyundai’s investment decision will serve as an example for other South Korean companies,” he said.
“Türkiye will continue to support all investors who produce, develop technology, create qualified employment and strengthen our position in global value chains.”
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