New era begins for Türkiye-US trade relations: TAİK head

WASHINGTON

The trade relations between Türkiye and the United States have entered a new era, says Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ, chairman of the Türkiye-U.S. Business Council (TAİK).

The positive developments in political relations in the past summer and the positive signals given for the period ahead bolstered expectations that the bilateral trade will accelerate, Yalçındağ said.

“As representatives of the business world, we have seen that we are entering a new path, and we are working to lay out a roadmap in this direction,” he added.

The 54 percent increase in trade volume between the U.S. and Türkiye in the last three years shows that the target of reaching a trade volume of $100 billion is not a distant goal, Yalçındağ said at an event in Istanbul organized by TAİK and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Türkiye.

He noted that the bilateral trade surpassed $32 billion last year.

Trade Winds, one of the major U.S. government-led trade missions, will be held in Türkiye in May 2024, Yalçındağ said, adding that around 50 American companies and U.S. ministers and other officials are expected to come to Türkiye.

TAİK will organize the 13th edition of the Türkiye Investment Conference in New York on Sept. 19-20, he noted.

Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek will meet with investors on Sept. 19 at an event organized by Goldman Sachs in New York.

“There is strong interest in this event. There are still 10 more days to end the registrations for the event, but the room capacity is already full. It shows that the world’s largest funds and portfolio managers want to hear about Türkiye.”

On Sept. 20, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will meet with CEOs of 20 companies on the Fortune 100 list, he added.

“The world’s largest companies will discuss the business opportunities and investments they want to make in Türkiye with our president,” Yalçındağ said.