Economic cooperation and improvement of relations are the topics of focus in President Erdoğan's Gulf visit

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is executing official visits in three Gulf countries this week: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.

He will meet the heir-apparent and Prime Minister, Mohammad bin Salman, and the head of the state, King Salman al Saud, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

He will be in Doha after an eight-month break for talks with Emir Tamim bin Hamad on Tuesday.

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The President will make his last visit to the UAE, where he will get together with Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan.

The leaders will discuss issues and cooperation in healthcare, energy, food security, agricultural technologies, the defense industry, logistics, grain, e-commerce, petrochemicals, and finance.

Experts expect deals in these fields to be concluded between Türkiye and the three countries individually.

"With the elimination of election uncertainty, the interest of international investors, especially our friends and brothers, in our country has increased," President Erdoğan said.

The President had spoken to journalists during his return trip from the NATO summit in Vilnius. He had said, “We have hopes for this visit. We will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, as we want to strengthen our relations. Even Mohammed bin Zayed called today. They are curious; they inquired about what happened and how did it go. We responded, 'We will be with you on Wednesday, and we will talk these thoroughly.’”

President Erdoğan added, “During the preliminary visits, our friends provided certain information. During our visit, we will have the opportunity to personally see and experience the support they will give to Türkiye. During my previous meetings, they said, ‘We are ready to make serious investments in Turkey."

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek had also visited the Gulf countries to discuss the economic partnership some time ago.

TRADE AND INVESTMENTS ARE CRUCIAL TOPICS

Some 200 business people from various professions are going with President Erdoğan.

Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) President Nail Olpak said, “Together with our President, we are traveling to three countries in three days with more than 200 business people as DEIK. In the tour, where we expect to hold very productive meetings, we anticipate that billions of dollars of cooperation agreements will be discussed in sectors such as contracting, housing, digital technologies, energy, tourism, health, food, agriculture, transportation, and finance.”

Business forums will take place in Saudi Arabia and the UAE with President Erdoğan’s participation.

Olpak expressed that the region has massive business potential and that mutual investments will increase significantly in the short term.

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DEIK Chairman also stated that new export records are achievable and that 16 agreements signed in Istanbul in the meeting with Minister of Commerce Ömer Bolat and Saudi Minister Majid Al-Hogail signaled such a development.

He also noted that the Turkish private sector, with its sophistication in businesses such as contracting and construction, is one of the best alternatives to cooperate with.

FROM TEN TO THIRTY BILLION

According to senior Turkish officials who spoke to Reuters ten days ago, Ankara expects around 10 billion dollars of direct investment from the Gulf states, with a cash flow of 30 billion anticipated to come in the long term.

The investments will help expand the Turkish economy by stimulating growth. In many areas, the lodgments also indicate new job opportunities for people.

Economic cooperation also suggests better diplomatic relations with the aforementioned states as they will seek to keep their investments intact.

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This goes both ways as Türkiye will try to attract more and more investments.

Türkiye’s economic relations with Gulf countries have been steadily developing since the start of this decade.

First, Ankara mended ties with them. After diplomatic relations got better, the focus was on the economy. In the last 20 years, trade volume shot up from 1.6 billion USD to 22 billion.

In parentheses, the bilateral relations with Qatar have been impeccable since 2014, as Ankara supported Doha during the diplomatic crisis. Türkiye has been a notable ally of Qatar ever since.

Mansur Ali Bilgiç - 17/7/2023

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