Turkish, Spanish firms hold bilateral meetings

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey and Spain are set to turn a new page in their commercial relationship as the latter hopes to leave the economic crisis behind at last while the other eyes a seat among the world’s 10 largest economies.

Both Turkey and Spain, dissatisfied with their current economic position in the world and apparently not satisfied with their bilateral trade and investment partnerships either, organized a forum to match companies from both sides that hold potential for joint projects at the Turkey-Spain Investment and Cooperation Forum in Istanbul on 19-20 March.The opening meeting of the forum was held with the participation of Spanish Ambassador to Turkey Cristobal Gonzalez-Aller, Spanish Deputy Commerce Minister Jaime Garcia-Legaz and Turkish Deputy Economy Minister Mustafa Sever.

Turkey has become the third export market outside Europe for Spanish goods after Morocco and the U.S. and its ninth in overall ranking, the ambassador said, adding that it was disappointing that these bright figures were not true for the reverse, as Turkey’s exports to Spain remain around $60 million despite a substantial increase in recent years.

Despite the surging trade ties, the investments in Spain have been halted due to the crisis but its end can be expected in months, not years so the country is ready to revive investments, Spanish deputy minister said, aiming to persuade Turkish companies that Spain is still an investment-friendly country despite the international public opinion on the contrary.

In addition to bilateral relations, joint investments to third countries were a prominent focus of both the countries’ representatives.

Throughout the forum, around 170 bilateral discussions will be held between 17 Spanish and 130 Turkish companies. Spain-based companies is presenting their projects needing potential investors to Turkish companies. Many of the selected companies focus on renewable energy as well as information technologies, while the majority of them are engineering companies.