At the Turkish-Saudi Business Forum held lately in Istanbul, Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat highlighted that the economic and trade relations between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia are improving every day. The trade volume between the two countries reached $6.5 billion in 2022 and is expected to continue growing in 2023.
Bolat further mentioned that during the first half of 2023, Türkiye’s trade with Saudi Arabia had already reached $3.4 billion. He added that the goal is to increase the mutual trade to $10 billion in the short term and $30 billion in the long term. According to the minister, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia possess strong trade and investment potential due to their globally integrated economy, robust infrastructure, and competitive markets.
Read more: $5 bn deposited by Saudi into Türkiye’s Central Bank
Exploratory talks
Last May, Türkiye and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiated exploratory talks to establish a free trade agreement.
Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat expressed his hope to begin negotiations soon and complete the process successfully. He added that the free trade agreement would be beneficial for businessmen in both countries. Bolat further noted that Saudi Arabia has invested more than $2 billion in Türkiye since 2002. Additionally, over 1400 Saudi companies are currently assessing investment opportunities and conducting business in Türkiye.
16 agreements
At the forum attended by Saudi Minister of Housing Majed Al-Hogail, a total of sixteen cooperation agreements were signed between Turkish and Saudi companies. The agreements focused on various fields, particularly industry and real estate. It is expected that these agreements will help strengthen trade between Ankara and Riyadh.
During his speech at the forum, Al- Hogail expressed his intent to leverage Türkiye’s business world, especially in the areas of infrastructure, technical engineering, and construction development, for projects within the Kingdom. He emphasized that trade and economic relations between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia are growing and that joint efforts will be made in the next phase to achieve the goals sought between the two countries.
Al- Hogail also discussed the Kingdom’s opportunities for foreign investors, noting that laws have been enacted to stimulate foreign investment. Additionally, he invited Turkish firms to participate in the upcoming real estate exhibition, ‘Cityscape Global,’ which is scheduled to take place in Riyadh between the 10th and of 13th September. The Saudi Minister urged both Turkish and Saudi economies to take advantage of the many opportunities that are on the horizon.
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