Türkiye seeks to increase trade with Kuwait: Minister

ISTANBUL

Türkiye wants to increase the bilateral trade volume with Kuwait from its current level of around $1 billion, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat has said.

Bolat traveled to Kuwait on Nov. 7, accompanied by a large delegation of Turkish businesspeople to hold high-level talks.

“We had a highly productive bilateral meeting with our brother Mohammed Othman Al Aiban, Minister of Commerce and Industry of Kuwait.” Bolat wrote on the social media platform X.

They engaged in discussions regarding the aspects of trade that can be further developed between our countries and evaluated concrete mutual steps in various areas, including trade, investments, renewable energy, finance and construction, Bolat said.

In the first 10 months of 2023, the bilateral trade stood at $680 million, with Türkiye’s exports to Kuwait amounting to $575 million, according to Bolat.

Although the bilateral trade slowed this year due to the recession in the world economy, this is probably temporary, the minister said.

“We will give a boost to the bilateral trade swiftly with mutual negotiations and trade fairs,” Bolat said, recalling that Kuwait signed an agreement to buy 18 unmanned combat aerial vehicles from Türkiye.

There are 427 Kuwaiti companies in Türkiye, with their investments totaling around $2 billion, while Turkish contractors have carried out some 50 projects in Kuwait worth more than $9 billion, according to Bolat.

“Our construction companies are ready to take on more projects as part of Kuwait's 2035 Vision,” the minister said.

For his part, Mohammed Othman noted that relations between Türkiye and Kuwait have improved greatly in recent years.

“There are great investment opportunities that should be explored,” he said.

Exports of the Turkish apparel, aquaculture and animal products sectors to Kuwait are $87 million and $76 million, while chemicals exports stand at $55 million, according to Mustafa Gültepe, the president of the Türkiye Exporters’ Assembly (TİM).