Ali Güney, General Manager of Türk Eximbank
“WE ARE OFFERING
TÜRK EXIMBANK’S RESOURCES TO THE SERVICE OF OUR EXPORTERS”
Evaluating the $32 billion in support provided to exporters in the first half of 2026, Türk Eximbank General Manager Ali Güney stated that they continue to improve financing opportunities ranging from SMEs to high value-added production, and from green transformation investments to opening up to new markets. Güney noted that the plastics industry can also benefit from international resources within the scope of sustainability and efficiency investments.
At a time when competitive conditions in global trade are becoming increasingly challenging, it is of great importance for exporters to access financing and manage their risks. Türk Eximbank diversifies financing and insurance opportunities to meet the needs of exporters, from SMEs to companies engaged in high value-added production, and from green transformation investments to expanding into new markets.
Answering questions from PLASFED Magazine, Türk Eximbank General Manager Ali Güney evaluated the Bank's performance in the first half of 2026, its support for SMEs, its sustainable financing efforts, and the financing opportunities available to the plastics industry.
As we leave behind the first half of 2026, how do you evaluate Türk Eximbank's performance? Which areas stood out in the financial support provided to exporters?
In the first half of 2026, we focused on uninterruptedly continuing the financing and insurance support our exporters need. During this period, our total support provided to exporters reached $32 billion, while we secured approximately $5.3 billion in new resources from international markets and offered these resources to our exporters under favorable conditions.
We care not only about increasing the financing volume but also about spreading support to the grassroots. In this context, while continuing our efforts to enable SMEs to benefit more from Türk Eximbank products, expanding receivables insurance and developing sustainable financing practices were among the priority topics of the first half. Our goal is to further strengthen the financing infrastructure that will increase the global competitiveness of our exporters day by day.
Access to finance and credit costs are among the most important agendas of manufacturing exporters. What new steps is Türk Eximbank taking to ensure that industrialists, particularly at the SME scale, can access financing under favorable conditions?
Türk Eximbank believes that the sustainable growth of exports is only possible with a strong SME ecosystem. For this reason, in recent years we have taken significant steps to ensure that SMEs, in particular, benefit more effectively from Türk Eximbank's resources. Today, SMEs make up the vast majority of the exporters we support. We are also steadily increasing the share of loans we extend to SMEs within our total loans.
In this context, while supporting SMEs and non-SME businesses engaged in exporter, manufacturer-exporter, and foreign exchange-earning activities with the İGE Foreign Currency Guarantee Support Package; we offer financing solutions tailored to the working capital needs of our companies making high value-added exports or providing foreign exchange-earning services with the High Value-Added Export Support Package. With the Treasury-guaranteed İGE guarantee, we provide favorable financing opportunities especially to manufacturers operating in labor-intensive sectors and e-exporting companies. Indeed, to date, approximately 126.6 billion TL in loans have been disbursed to 5,730 exporters with the İGE guarantee, and we find it extremely valuable that 80% of our exporters using guaranteed loans are SMEs.
The plastics sector stands out as a key supplier to many industries, from automotive to white goods, and from packaging to the defense industry. What strategy does Türk Eximbank follow in supporting intermediate goods sectors that generate high added value?
Türk Eximbank considers supporting investments that will increase the quality of exports, regardless of sector, as a strategic priority. We attach importance to developing financing solutions that will increase the competitiveness of our companies that produce high added value, carry out technology-oriented production, and aim to position themselves more strongly in global value chains. Sectors producing intermediate goods are one of the fundamental building blocks of our export ecosystem. We will continue to develop financing opportunities that will support the companies operating in these areas in increasing their production capacities, opening up to new markets, and achieving sustainable growth.
Sustainability and carbon regulations are now an inseparable part of exports. Do you have any new work on financing and credit products for companies making green transformation investments?
A new era in world trade has begun with the European Green Deal and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Environmental performance is now becoming as decisive in exports as price and quality. We evaluate this transformation process as a significant competitive opportunity for our exporters. Accordingly, we are developing our sustainable financing practices and offering international resources that support green transformation investments to the use of our exporters.
With the Green Financing Module that we integrated into the carbon footprint calculation infrastructure developed within the scope of the GreenTİM Project carried out in cooperation with TİM, we offer more effective solutions to the needs of our companies. Our goal is to support our exporters in their transition to low-carbon production in terms of financing and to protect their competitive power in international markets in the long term.
Türk Eximbank’s receivable insurance and export credit insurance practices have developed significantly in recent years. Are new products planned for the upcoming period that will enable exporters to manage their risks more effectively?
In a period of increasing uncertainties in global trade, risk management has become an inseparable part of export financing. Therefore, Türk Eximbank continuously improves its receivable insurance and export credit insurance practices and supports our exporters in conducting secure trade. In particular, we are expanding our international reinsurance network to increase our risk-sharing capacity, offering stronger collateral structures to our exporters operating in different countries. We care about ensuring that our exporters have access not only to financing but also to secure trade opportunities. In the upcoming period, we aim to further develop our risk management infrastructure by strengthening our international collaborations.
Industrialists expect Türk Eximbank resources to reach a broader exporter base and at more competitive costs. Are creating new resources in this direction or collaborations with international financial institutions on your agenda?
One of Türk Eximbank's primary priorities is to deliver the resources it provides from international markets to our exporters at the most affordable costs possible. In this direction, we are continuously increasing our resource diversity through international bond issues, syndicated loans, sustainable financing transactions, and collaborations with multilateral development institutions. The external financing of approximately $5.3 billion we have provided since the beginning of 2026 has been an important indicator of this approach. As of today, this resource size has reached the level of $16 billion. The number of foreign institutions with which Türk Eximbank has signed a reinsurance agreement has also increased to 15. With the signed reinsurance agreements, we foresee providing joint support under a reinsurance structure for projects that Turkish companies will undertake in third countries together with their foreign partners.
The plastics sector is one of Turkey’s sectors that generates the highest foreign trade surplus and provides intermediate goods for exports. As Türk Eximbank, are you working on a special financing model to increase the competitiveness of this sector?
As Türk Eximbank, we support our exporters' investments that will increase their competitiveness, and we attach importance to facilitating access to finance for our exporters who make investments particularly focused on high added value, efficiency, and sustainability.
In this context, sustainability-themed loan resources we obtain from international financial institutions provide a significant advantage. Thanks to our collaborations with international organizations such as IBRD and AIIB within the World Bank Group, we offer long-term and cost-effective financing opportunities to our exporters.
The plastics sector is also among the sectors with high potential to benefit from these resources in terms of transformation and sustainability investments. We care about our exporters in the plastics sector making investment expenditures aimed at energy efficiency, resource efficiency, improving environmental performance, and sustainable production processes benefiting from these financing opportunities. In the upcoming period, we will continue to support the competitiveness of our exporters by increasing our international resources.
Finally, what is the most important message you would like to give as the General Manager of Türk Eximbank to industrialists who produce and want to grow their exports?
We continue our work with the goal of carrying the financing and insurance services we offer to our exporters further every day. With the increasing financing we will obtain from supranational institutions, we will continue to deepen our existing cooperation and ensure that our exporters gain a competitive advantage in global markets. The transaction volume we have provided through export support institutions to date has reached approximately $1 billion.
Regarding our foreign trade products, within the scope of our cooperation with Export Support Institutions of other countries, we signed a financing agreement with Saudi Eximbank in order to finance the raw material needs of exporting companies in non-oil products originating from Saudi Arabia under favorable conditions and to provide financing support to exporters with maturities of up to 2 years under competitive conditions.
We have also included our participation finance products in our service range to increase our financial inclusiveness and offer alternative funding sources to our exporters. In accordance with participation principles and rules; we have expanded our opportunities with the Pre-Shipment Export Financing Program and Interest-Free Financial Leasing Financing Program through Participation Banks.
We are bringing our exporters' financing needs into a holistic structure.
As Türk Eximbank, we will continue to be the solution partner of our exporters at every stage; we will continue to offer financing, trust, and sustainable growth under a single roof.
This content has been translated using artificial intelligence technology.