Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said that his country aims to increase trade volume with members of the Developing Eight (D-8) Economic Cooperation Group through new generation agreements.
This came in statements ahead of the launch of the 11th Group (D-8) Summit in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Thursday.
He explained that Turkey is participating in the summit with a delegation headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, noting that sessions will be held on various topics during the summit.
He stated that the summit will evaluate the progress made in cooperation in various fields such as trade, small and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture, food security, youth, tourism, energy, civil aviation, health and the steps that need to be taken to achieve more.
He pointed out that decisions can also be made in the field of trade, noting that the target of a 10 percent trade rate within the Developing Eight Group was set in the ten-year roadmap for the years 2020-2030 adopted by the 10th summit hosted by Bangladesh.
He pointed out that 6.6 percent of the target has been achieved so far, and that they are waiting for the decision to start renewing the D-8 preferential trade agreement in order to achieve the target.
He added that according to the International Monetary Fund data, the Group of the eight developing countries is $4.8 trillion, which is equivalent to 4.3 percent of the world’s total production.
Bolat stated that the population of the eight developing countries is 1.2 billion and the per capita income is close to $4,000.
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He explained that the total exports of the countries reached $1.12 trillion, while imports reached $1.17 trillion.
He continued, saying: “The exports of the eight countries together amount to $75.5 billion and imports amount to $77.7 billion. This data indicates great potential for increasing trade.”
He pointed out that Turkey’s exports to the eight countries amounted to $9.1 billion in 2023, while imports amounted to $13.1 billion.
He pointed out that the volume of Turkish trade with the eight countries countries has increased by 22.6 percent in the last 5 years, and that Turkish trade with the group’s countries is equivalent to 3.6 percent of total exports and imports.
The eight countries includes Egypt, Turkey, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.
The summit is being held in person for the first time in 7 years, according to Cairo News Channel.
The group was founded in Turkey in 1997 and aims to strengthen economic and social relations between member states.
The summit discusses ways to confront successive global economic and political changes.
The summit will witness a special session for Palestine and Lebanon, attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Among the most prominent participants in the summit is Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is visiting Egypt in the first visit by an Iranian president to Cairo in 11 years.
