Turkish chambers union head urges higher trade, investment with partners

By Fatma Eda Topcu and Muhammet Emin Horuz

ISTANBUL (AA) – The president of Turkey's Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) on Wednesday urged higher trade and investment with Turkey's partners.

"We need to have more free trade with preferential trade agreement," Rifat Hisarciklioglu said at Chamber of Commerce and Industry Business Forum in Istanbul.

"Turkey has realized this with Azerbaijan after the preferential trade agreement has come into effect on March 1. Our investment in each other is above $30 billion, and our trade volume is heading towards the $15 billion target," he said.

Turkey currently attracts $10-$25 billion of foreign direct investment, said Hisarciklioglu who is also the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Turkic Council member states – Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Hungary – will meet in Istanbul on Friday for their 8th summit under the theme of "Green Technologies and Smart Cities in the Digital Age."

Hisarciklioglu said the Turkic Council member and observer states have a combined $1.1 trillion in economy, $560 billion in foreign trade volume and 160 million in population.

"Just the figures show that what kind of a global power we can be when we come together. We need to finish and increase the economic integration between ourselves in order to put this power into motion," he said.

Baghdad Amreyev, secretary general of the Turkic Council, emphasized enhanced economic cooperation between the member states.

"It is our highest priority to establish strong relations between our business worlds," he said.

Amreyev also said that the Turkic Council plans to establish a fund, in addition to founding an investment bank, to realize joint projects.