President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a gathering with Elon Musk, the pinnacle of electrical carmaker Tesla, and invited him to determine a manufacturing facility in Türkiye, a press release stated Monday.
Erdoğan and Musk have held a string of conferences each in Türkiye and on the sidelines of worldwide boards, growing a seeming friendship that they prolonged on Sunday in New York.
“President Erdoğan referred to as on Tesla to determine its seventh manufacturing facility in Türkiye,” the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications stated.
In the course of the talks on the Turkish Home (Türkevi), Erdoğan knowledgeable one of many world’s richest males about “Türkiye’s technological breakthroughs in addition to the ‘Digital Türkiye’ imaginative and prescient and the Nationwide Synthetic Intelligence Technique,” the assertion added.
“Our president defined that we now have stepped into electrical car manufacturing with Togg and stated that we’re able to assist Tesla to determine its 2nd manufacturing facility in Europe and seventh manufacturing facility on the planet in Türkiye,” Business and Know-how Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır stated on social media platform X, previously generally known as Twitter.
Kacır, who additionally attended the assembly, referred to Türkiye’s first homegrown electrical car model, Togg, which launched mass manufacturing final October and began deliveries this April.
For his half, Musk stated that many Turkish suppliers are already working with Tesla and that Türkiye was among the many most necessary candidates for its subsequent manufacturing facility.
Erdoğan arrived within the U.S. to attend the 78th session of the U.N. Basic Meeting, which he’s scheduled to handle on Tuesday.
Tesla at present has six factories, together with two exterior the U.S. – one in Shanghai centered on the Asian market and a second centered on European gross sales close to Berlin.
It’s also planning to construct one in Mexico in northern Nuevo Leon state and has tentative plans for a plant in India, a part of the automaker’s push to broaden its international footprint.
AI, Starlink cooperation
Erdoğan additionally stated in the course of the assembly that Türkiye was open to cooperation on synthetic intelligence and Starlink, the satellite tv for pc web enterprise of Musk’s SpaceX, the communications directorate stated.
“President Erdoğan acknowledged that alternatives for collaboration with SpaceX might come up via the steps taken and to be taken as a part of Türkiye’s house program,” it added.
Musk stated SpaceX wished to work with Turkish authorities to acquire the required license to supply Starlink satellite tv for pc companies in Türkiye.
It additionally stated Erdoğan invited Musk to attend Teknofest, Türkiye’s largest aerospace and expertise competition, within the Aegean province of Izmir on the finish of September and cited the SpaceX founder as saying he would gladly attend.
Musk’s SpaceX has been working with Türkiye’s house business, launching a few of its communication satellites.
In the course of the assembly, Erdoğan additionally promoted Türkiye’s high-tech sector, which is arguably most well-known for its Bayraktar fight drones.
The drones helped Ukraine repel Russia’s march on Kyiv within the first weeks of its invasion final 12 months and have been exported to not less than 30 international locations.
Musk stated he was conscious of the world’s curiosity in Bayraktar drones, the assertion added.
Photos of the assembly confirmed Musk holding certainly one of his sons as he talked to Erdoğan.
Erdoğan offered a soccer to Musk’s son, whom he and Canadian pop star Grimes named “X AE A-12.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presents a ball as a present to Tesla CEO Elon Musk in New York, U.S., Sept. 17, 2023. (Handout by way of Reuters)
Musk can be set to satisfy Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in California on Monday. He posted on social media platform X that their talks would deal with synthetic intelligence expertise.
Tesla in August expressed an curiosity in constructing a manufacturing facility in India that might produce a low-cost electrical car.
Musk stated in Could that Tesla would in all probability decide a location for a brand new manufacturing facility by the tip of this 12 months.
Tesla shares are up 123% to date this 12 months and the automaker on Saturday stated it had produced its 5 million vehicles.
Along with working Tesla, Musk additionally purchased X, previously generally known as Twitter, for $44 billion in 2022.