The Path to Strong Development Lies in Energy

Significant developments are taking place in the energy sector, which is of critical importance to our industry. Especially as geopolitical risks increase, energy independence, secure sustainable supply, price stability, storage, and resource diversity are becoming increasingly important.

In this context, we are closely monitoring how access to energy resources and energy security issues have long been one of the main pillars of geopolitical tensions. Especially in today's world, with polarization increasing and global value chains being reshaped, this issue takes on particular importance.

On the other hand, geopolitical crises and growing concerns about energy security are also negatively affecting global carbon emission reduction efforts. This reminds us of a very clear fact: climate change and energy policies are two complementary main topics.

In this period of increasing global uncertainty, the way to maintain competitiveness and sustainable growth is to manage the energy transition in a strategic, comprehensive, and determined manner. For this reason, Türkiye's energy transition vision in recent years is particularly important at this point. The balanced, multi-layered, and multidimensional energy policy put forward by our Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources is very important as it is aligned with our country's 2053 net-zero emissions vision and aims to reduce energy dependence on external sources.

At our last month's Assembly meeting, we discussed all these issues, among others, with a holistic perspective on the energy sector and with a very valuable guest. We hosted our Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Mr. Alparslan Bayraktar, at our Assembly meeting held with the main topic of “A Look at Türkiye's Future Vision in Energy in Terms of Sustainable Growth and the Competitiveness of Our Industry.”

Mr. Bayraktar shared his valuable evaluations and analyses on these topics, which you can also read in the following pages of our magazine. The meeting emphasized the inseparable nature of our industry's competitiveness and our energy system, the fact that energy supply security is a prerequisite for sustainable growth, and that the transition to low-carbon energy is an indispensable path to becoming a strong player in the global economy. I believe that it presented a useful perspective on current developments in energy, thanks to the contributions of our industrialists.

On this occasion, as you can read in the following pages, we had the opportunity to express that we, as industrialists, see our country's energy transformation as a powerful opportunity for development and that we are ready to fulfill our responsibility as the private sector in this process, to produce, and to develop technology.

As we complete 2025 and prepare to enter a new year, I wish everyone healthy and peaceful days.

 Erdal Bahçıvan
Istanbul Chamber of Industry
Chairman of the Board of Directors