Türkiye expands e‑export target countries to 35

ANKARA

Türkiye has increased the number of target countries for e‑exports from 18 to 35 in response to recent developments in global trade, a Trade Ministry official has said.

Hasan Önal, the head of the Department of E‑Export Digital Marketing, Behavioral Public Policies and Next‑Generation Technologies, noted that the department was established in 2022 and that export support mechanisms were introduced in 2023.

“At that time, e‑export volume stood at $2 billion. We have raised this to $6.4 billion,” Önal said.

He added that under the “distant countries strategy” for e‑exports, 18 countries were initially designated as target markets, but this number has now been expanded to 35 due to shifts in global trade and the removal of customs exemptions in some countries.

Önal said that countries such as Germany, France and Romania had recently been added to the list. He noted that the United States remains the primary market for Turkish e‑exports, followed by Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and Germany.

Önal added that government support for e‑exports is also structured to encourage expansion via marketplace platforms. To date, guides have been prepared for 27 marketplaces, with the aim of enabling Turkish firms to reach global customers rather than focusing solely on individual countries, he explained.

He also noted that efforts to strengthen the e‑export ecosystem include organizing large‑scale global events. The Istanbul Global E‑Export Summit (IGEXX) is scheduled to take place in the first week of September, he said.

According to Önal, the inaugural summit held in 2024 was attended by 33 global marketplace platforms and has since become an important meeting point for the sector.