H.E. President Abdullah Gül’s Speech At The 11th Transportation, Maritime Affairs And Communications Forum

05.09.2013
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(ISTANBUL CONFERENCE CENTER, September 5, 2013, 11:15)
Distinguished Ministers,
Dear Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen, 

I am very pleased to be in your company, on the occasion of the 11th Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Forum, which has been organized with the theme, “Transportation and Fast Access for Everyone” 

We are pleased to host you in Turkey, which is an intersection point of the sea-, air-, land- and railways and the lines of energy transfer and communications.

I would like to welcome you all to Istanbul, a world city, where it is possible with a four-hour flight to reach 1.5 billion people on three continents.

I would like to extend my thanks to the Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications, Binali Yıldırım, and to his team, who have for the second time realized this significant organization with international participation.

Distinguished Guests,

We live in a highly advanced phase of the communications, informatics and transportation age.  In this age, transportation and communications are closely related to the quality of our lives.

All of us today use modern transportation vehicles and benefit from communication tools in every part of daily life.

Most of us now communicate through smartphones, tablets and laptops. We take intense advantage of the internet and mass communications devices as well.

To be honest, I am no different from you in this regard. I also am making the most use of all the opportunities that technology offers, including the social media.

No matter what sector, what institution or what area we work in, transportation and communication have an influence on all of our lives and perform an indispensable function. When I look at this conference hall I see tangible demonstrations of this diversity. There are representatives of both the private sector and the public sector among us here.

There are also scientists, academicians and representatives of NGOs as well as civil servants and government officials from 16 countries -- I personally attach great importance to this.

Our objective, through the richness of participation in this conference room, is to review Turkey’s goals for 2023, thus contributing to the vision for transportation and communications which will establish the strategy for 2035.

As the participants here are of such diverse expertise and competency, I have no doubt that the outcome which will be achieved will be the product of our shared ideas and will shape the future.

Dear Guests,

Most of you are experts in these fields. Therefore, without going into details I would like to share some of my views on them generally.

We live in a world defined as a “global village” and in a post-modern era. We live in an information age in which technological developments and innovation speed up the flow of time.

Through the revolution of technology, communications and informatics which took place at the end of the previous century, human dependency on time and space has largely been broken.

Today, such concepts as far and near, known and unknown, and familiar and unfamiliar have lost their meaning. Boundaries have become transparent. Most of the barriers in the way of mutual interaction have been removed.

The innovations taking place in informatics and communications technologies have changed the chemistry of societies. People now demand not only what is presented to them, but rather they want the best in the world in all areas.

Consequently, transparency, freedom, justice, accountability and good governance are no longer limited to a privileged part of the world, but they have become values for the whole world…

In fact, the developments occurring in nearby regions demonstrate to the whole world that, despite the ups and downs of this process, it is a course which is irreversible.  It is clear that those who do not understand this situation will be the ones who run behind events and time, and not lead the developments.

Distinguished Guests,

In a globalizing world, communication and transportation are without doubt among the fundamental pillars of the economy. It is not possible for a modern economy that is open to the global world to compete without a healthy communication and transportation infrastructure.

Therefore, it is necessary for every country to invest in land-, sea-, air- and railways within the scope of an integrated transportation strategy.

As a matter of fact, the less costly methods in freight shipment are sea and railways. In passenger transportation for middle distances, the high-speed train routes are coming to the fore each day. Without doubt, highways continue to be significant as the basic transportation network all over the world as well.

As the symbol of speed and comfort, airways are another indispensable part of the modern age. As you all know, Turkey has taken great leaps in the areas of transportation and communication in recent years.

The liberalization which was launched especially in the Turkish airways sector has borne fruit in a short period of time.

After the opening of our domestic flights to other commercial airline companies, a big market expansion has been seen and the resulting competitive environment has allowed all companies, including Turkish Airlines, to achieve a great development.

Today, Turkish Airlines has literally become a global company, and has direct flights to 220 points on five continents and is the airline that flies to the most countries in the world.

The successes of our private airline companies which grow stronger each day are worthy of every recognition.

In addition, Turkey is the country with the most modern airline terminals in Europe. It is now possible to reach almost every city in our country by air.

Following the developments in the airways sector which have made us all proud in recent years, great progress has also been achieved in high-speed train lines.

All of these developments show us this: as transportation opportunities increase, so does the satisfaction of our people. Their self-confidence and trust in their country are enhanced as well.

Distances between cities are becoming almost like distances between neighboring houses -- On the one hand our economy is developing, on the other hand our social consistency is strengthened. Turkey is becoming a country and society more open to the world.

Surely, we still have a lot to accomplish in terms of transportation and communication.  In this respect, improving and expanding the existing highways, extending the railways, constructing new harbors, docks and ships with high tonnage and speed are all of great importance.

In addition, the construction of new airports with higher capacity, fleets and all the pertinent amenities and systems which will connect them to city centers are among the areas we should concentrate on.

While achieving all these, people should be given the opportunity for safe, cost-effective, fast and comfortable travels, and the infrastructures which will provide balance for cost-effective speedy delivery in freight transfer should be established.

Dear Guests,

A similar approach is required for the communications sector as well. In this vein, in the post-modern age where time-space limitations are mostly removed in terms of production, one of the most basic principles that should be taken into account is flexibility.

People now demand opportunities through which they may live, work and produce without being confined to the traditional patterns.

As long as the communication and transportation sectors heed this demand, they will be able to produce newer, better and higher quality opportunities.

Another basic principle of this age is productivity. As I have stated many times before on different occasions, speeding up efforts which will increase factor productivity is a must…

The increase in productivity brought by communications, informatics and innovation has also become the main driving force of human development and economic growth…

Therefore, more investments should be made in information and its production, and in research and development activities…

I am closely following and giving support to the efforts being made in this field in Turkey... These efforts are the main priorities among the new economic policies… And these policies are the key for our economy not to fall into the trap of middle income.

Dear Guests,

In today’s world, in which a development in a given geography affects the others through a “domino effect”, it is vital for Turkey to plan its transportation and communications strategies according to regional and global magnitudes…

Transportation and communication lines are not only an issue which can be viewed from the economic and commercial angle, either.  Before anything else, for a geographic area to be defined as a “region” in the world, it is necessary that there are communications and transportation networks which allow communication and interaction between countries and people.

In fact, this has always been the situation throughout history… For instance, is it possible to talk about the region of Eurasia without the Silk Road? Through these transportation networks, countries and civilizations have developed both commercial and human affairs with each other…

Today, the construction of such regional and global networks has become the principle priority of diplomacy, economy and strategy…

Regional economic and political integration projects such as the European Union have changed the destiny of continents and have become the main locomotives of regional peace and prosperity…

Throughout history, Turkey has been located, geographically and culturally, at the crossroads of continents, civilizations and ancient transportation corridors. Today, we have refined our geostrategic location in question, in the light of new global and regional conditions and have pioneered many regional energy, communications and transportation networks…

During the last decade, we have taken important steps in this direction in Turkey... Through the energy, transportation and communications networks which pass through our country, we have both connected Turkey to the world and served the human and economic integration of the multidimensional geographic regions around us…

In this respect, we have made major investments in land-, air-, and seaways, and in high speed train infrastructure…

I would especially like to draw attention to the Marmaray project, which has international dimensions…

We are building, based on this project, the Middle Corridor, which is also referred to as the Modern Silk Road, which connects Asia and Europe through both highways and railways…

We, together with the President of Azerbaijan and President of Georgia, have laid the foundation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, which is an important part of this vision… In order to implement this project, which we expect to complete next year, we are making great efforts with our Georgian and Azeri friends…

With this project, we are aiming to build an infrastructure which will allow a train to leave from London, then using the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railways and the Aktau port connection on the Caspian Sea, to reach Beijing non-stop, …

In fact, the Middle Corridor project which we refer to as the Modern Silk Road is not a simple transportation project. It aims to weave together the two shores of the Caspian through energy, transportation and communication lines in the future, and thereby make a hundred-year-old dream come true…

Through these projects, the Caspian Sea will transform into a critical region, which will connect the countries and regions in the Europe-Asia axis with each other through its energy lines, highways, seaways and railroads and communication networks.

Valuable Participants,

Turkey has made revolutionary progress in the field of communications, in parallel with the huge projects it has realized in the transportation area…

I am delighted to see that Turkey’s current communications infrastructure has speed and efficiency beyond the technology of many developed countries…

I truly believe that Turkish scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs will put their signature to technological discoveries and innovations in the coming years.

The question to be asked now, therefore, is what will be done in the next period…

Actually, the signs of what will be done have been put forward in the Target-2023 Strategy presented at the Forum organized in 2009…

Our main priority is to prepare Turkey, the Turkish economy and the Turkish people appropriately for the needs of the post-modern age…

We are aiming to create a Turkey which, in the 100th year of our Republic, will achieve the most advanced democratic standards; will be among the most advanced economies of the world; will be fully integrated with the global system through its energy, transportation and communications infrastructure; and will be prosperous, stable and strong…

We believe that democratic Turkey, which will continue on its way by taking into consideration the needs of private enterprise and the free market, will benefit our regional and global partners, as well as our neighbors…

In this light, I would like to emphasize that, we are open to cooperation with all our regional and global partners in both national and cross border projects…

During this Forum which will continue for three days, you will address and discuss sustainable economic development, and also its sociocultural dimensions and challenges from a global perspective… 

I believe that your exchange of ideas will be a significant contribution in terms of paving the way for new horizons towards 2035… 

Keep this ideal always in mind: a free, prosperous and livable world where people, products, services and capital move freely… 

To realize this ideal, if not today then in the future, and to organize our efforts around it, will benefit not only a particular people, country or region, but all of humanity. 

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt thanks to all participants who have contributed to this Forum with their presence and valuable ideas…

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