Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat announced that the volume of trade exchange between Türkiye and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia approached $6.2 billion during the first 11 months of 2023.
This came during a speech delivered by Polat at the Türkiye-Saudi Arabia Business and Investment Roundtable, organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey in Istanbul.
Polat congratulated Saudi Arabia on winning the bid to host Expo 2030, noting Türkiye's strong support for Saudi Arabia during the vote.
Bulat pointed out that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries increased by 41% in 2022 to reach $6.5 billion, adding that trade exchange during the 11 months of 2023 approached $6.2 billion, expecting to easily exceed last year's figure.
Identical Turkish and Saudi data showed that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries reached $6.5 billion in 2022, up from $3.7 billion in 2021.
Bulat explained that the strategic goal of the two countries is to reach a trade volume of $10 billion in the medium term and $30 billion in the long term.
He stressed that Türkiye and Saudi Arabia have very strong potential in the field of trade and investment cooperation, and that the most important tool to achieve this is the conclusion of a free trade agreement between Türkiye and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Polat pointed out that Turkish contracting companies have so far pledged to implement 400 projects worth $28 billion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in addition to the presence of 1,400 Saudi companies established in Turkey that benefit from the available investment opportunities.
Bolat spoke about his meeting with the Governor of the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization, Saad Al-Qasabi, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, stressing that they had made great progress in resolving the problems between the two countries.
This growth in trade relations between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia is a positive indicator of strengthening economic cooperation between the two countries, and an important step towards achieving common strategic goals.
