Turkey, Sweden eye stronger economic ties

ANKARA

Turkey and Sweden on May 5 agreed to boost bilateral trade and investment.

During the first Turkish-Sweden Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) meeting, held online, top officials from both countries spoke on bilateral commercial ties and relations with the EU, in particular updating the Turkey-EU Customs Union as well as the EU's Green Deal.

Also discussed at the meeting were the effects of the pandemic, mutual investments and contracting services, and cooperation in third countries and joint projects.

The two countries set a goal to boost the bilateral trade volume to $5 billion in a balanced way.

"I believe that our meeting will help deepen our commercial and economic relations through a constructive dialogue," Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet Muş said in English on Twitter.

Trade ties with Sweden

Despite the pandemic, last year Turkey's trade volume with Sweden rose compared to 2019, reaching $3.1 billion.

While four contracting projects have been undertaken in Sweden so far, the cost of these projects reached $171 million.

From 2002 up to now, Turkey's investments in Sweden reached $156 million, while international direct investment from Sweden to Turkey totaled $385 million.