Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat stated that Turkish businessmen’s investments abroad contribute to increasing the country’s exports.
This came in statements he made on Wednesday regarding his two-day visit to Algeria and Tunisia.
Bolat said that the visit to Algeria and Tunisia was “fruitful for Turkey. It was very intense and fruitful.”
He was accompanied on the visit by a delegation from the Ministry of Commerce, the Foreign Economic Relations Council, and members of the Turkish-Algerian Business Council and the Turkish-Tunisian Business Council.
Bolat confirmed that he held very fruitful discussions with his Algerian counterpart, Tayeb Zitouni, and that they agreed to start negotiations on the preferential trade agreement and remove obstacles to trade and investments between the two countries.
He added: “We also met with the Tunisian Minister of Energy, Industry and Mining, Fatima Thabet Chiboub, and the Tunisian Minister of Trade and Export Development, Kulthum Ben Rajab, and we began taking important measures regarding obstacles to trade between the two countries and promoting mutual investments.”
He added: “We decided to hold the Turkish-Tunisian Business and Investment Forum annually, one year in Turkey and the other in Tunisia.”
-Advertisement-
He pointed out that a delegation from the Tunisian Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mining will visit Turkey soon to hold discussions with Turkish investors.
Bolat stated that the value of Turkish investments in Tunisia amounts to about 700 million dollars, pledging to increase them.
He added: “Because the more investments increase, the more trade increases, and with their visits, exports from Turkey to those countries increase. Therefore, the openness of Turkish businessmen and the private sector to the world means new opportunities for Turkey.”
Bolat arrived in Tunisia on Tuesday for a one-day visit, during which he participated in the second Turkish-Tunisian business and investment forum at the headquarters of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts in the capital, Tunis.
The volume of trade between Turkey and Tunisia will reach $1.6 billion in 2023, while Turkish contractors have implemented 21 projects worth $975 million in Tunisia so far, according to a statement by the Turkish Ministry of Trade last Saturday.
On Monday, Bolat participated in the activities of the Algerian-Turkish Business Forum, which lasted a day amid efforts by both parties to enhance the intra-trade movement of the two countries.
