Turkey faces early deindustrialization, warns İSO President Erdal Bahçıvan

At its July ordinary board meeting, the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (İSO) heard President Erdal Bahçıvan warn that Turkey faces an “early deindustrialization” risk. He noted that manufacturing’s share of gross domestic product has slipped below 20 % and that the sector is characterized by low‑technology production, insufficient equity and heavy reliance on imported inputs.

Bahçıvan said this structure hampers productivity gains, technological development and resilience to external shocks, threatening the transition to a high‑income economy. He cited global slowdown, rising protectionism and a weak European market as external drivers, and urged that the current economic programme be reinforced with policies supporting value‑added production, including the new Strategic Transformation Centre and the “Value‑Focused Digitisation and Growth Program” backed by the Ministry of Industry and Technology and KOSGEB.