Leaders Shaping Our Country's Machinery Manufacturing Industry Discuss Global Developments.

Machinery Summit 2025 - Istanbul

This year's summit comprehensively addressed the rapidly changing political and economic balances around the world, as well as the impact of technological transformations on industry. The Multipolar New World Order, AI-Driven Transformation, new power blocs, trade wars, rising protectionism, twin transformation and the new competitive parameters brought about by artificial intelligence formed the main agenda of the summit.

We attended such an important meeting as APACK and listened to the views and assessments of our industry stakeholders. We also exchanged information by assessing the situation in conversations with many acquaintances we met at the summit.

Detailed information about the summit: www.makinezirvesi.org 

The summit highlighted the new global order in our commercial life. While the US and EU maintain their global influence, China, India and Russia are emerging as regional and global powers, the expansion of BRICS and the institutionalisation of an alternative global power bloc were discussed. Criticisms of Western-centric financial institutions, trade restrictions and customs duties reshaping supply chains were voiced.

China's rising competitive power, particularly in medium-to-high-tech sectors such as machinery and automotive, was highlighted as affecting Turkey both in the domestic market and in exports. The roadmap for the Turkish machinery sector was discussed.

Artificial intelligence and digitalisation are rapidly transforming the competitive landscape in the machinery sector. Post-pandemic, remote monitoring, control technologies, IT-based machines and cloud systems have become standard practices in the sector, while data analytics and predictive maintenance have become essential for businesses. Rising energy and labour costs have brought efficiency issues to the fore.

The Turkish machinery sector has written a remarkable success story over the past 20 years. While global machinery trade tripled between 2001 and 2023, Turkey's machinery exports increased 16-fold to reach approximately $30 billion, raising its share of global trade to over 1%. The 29% share of machinery and electrical equipment in global trade reinforces the sector's strategic role in the structural transformation of the Turkish economy.

The tight monetary policies implemented in 2024, the economic stagnation in Europe, and the strong Turkish Lira policy limited the competitiveness of exports; imports from China, meanwhile, created pressure in the domestic market. Despite this, exports maintained 2023 levels, demonstrating the sector's resilience. While a similar performance is expected for 2025, this stagnation indicates that the sector's decline may continue.

We believe that summits such as this are extremely useful in ensuring that the sector is better prepared for global transformations. The objectives include determining the sector's roadmap and contributing to the formation of a strong shared vision among stakeholders.