Easier transport would boost Turkey-Qatar trade ties: Minister

DOHA

In a bid to boost bilateral trade between Turkey and Qatar, work to ease transportation through Iraq and Iran must be accelerated, Turkey’s customs and trade minister said on Jan. 16, as reported by Anadolu Agency.

“We want to create a mechanism, which makes transportation easier and provides a transit pass via Iraq between the two countries,” Bülent Tüfenkci told the Turkey-Qatar Business Forum held by the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) and Qatar’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Qatar Chamber) in the capital Doha.

Tüfenkci stressed that 2015 had seen bilateral trade of $784 million, followed by $678 million in 2016 and $788 million in the first 11 months of 2017.

Trade should climb higher than this, he added.

Politicians and ministries of the two countries are ready to support businesspeople boosting trade, said the minister.

Turkey became a key player in its region and the world with its young, qualified workforce, a large domestic market, a disciplined financial sector, developed substructure and competitive private sector, he stressed.

He said that Turkey’s legislation has helped investors and the country enjoys a free market economy.

“The two countries complement each other’s economies. Many areas can be co-invested in third-country markets,” stated Tüfenkci.

He stressed that the two countries needed to raise and diversify their trade and move it to value-added fields.

The two countries’ bilateral trade has risen nearly 59-fold from $15 million 15 years ago to $900 million, while investments from Qatar to Turkey ballooned from $1 million to $1.6 billion in the same period, said TOBB head Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu.

“Qatar has capital and Turkey has an entrepreneurial spirit. Bring them together with concrete projects,” said Hisarcıklıoğlu.

As part of the forum, 400 Qatari and Turkish businesspeople from 13 sectors held meetings.