ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s trip to Saudi Arabia next week will cement bilateral ties, the Saudi Minister for Municipal Affairs and Housing Majed Al Hogail said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the Turkiye-Saudi Arabia Business Forum (TSBF) in Istanbul, Al Hogail said that the oil-rich Saudi Arabia is happy to work with Turkiye as it will increase trade volume and improve the well-being of the public on both sides.
He said that within the Vision 2030 framework, the Kingdom wanted to benefit from the Turkish business field in the sectors of contracting, infrastructure, housing development, and engineering, Anadolu Agency reported.
The Vision 2030 aims to reduce dependence of the Kigdom economy on oil and diversify it with dozens of projects scheduled for the public service fields.
The minister said that Saudi Arabia was offering numerous opportunities for this, as well as laws and investment support, including bank loans.
He added that there wass huge business potential, and the Kingdom would be happy to see and support Turkish investors.
He also invited Turkish businessmen to Riyadh in September for the massive real estate expo Cityscape Global.
Turkiye seeks to boost bilateral trade
On the occassionm Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said that the two nations’ bilateral trade, which was at 6.5 billion dollars last year, reached 3.4 billion dollars in the first half of the current year.
He said that the two nations’ bilateral trade target is 10 billion dollars for the short term and 30 billion dollars for the long term.
Underlining their strategic geographical location, the Turkish minister said that they are located on the junction of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and have an advanced infrastructure for conducting business.
He said that Turkish exporters are reliable trade partners for the Kingdom, and they have assumed many projects worth 25 billion dollars so far.
The two nations’ priority is expanding the scope of bilateral trade and diversifying products.
Talking about the free trade agreement Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, he said that Turkiye had started discussions with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the FTA.
