Turkiye's Latin America outreach stretches from trade to TV shows

By Deniz Cicek

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye's efforts to boost trade and investment ties with Latin American countries are bearing fruit, as Türkiye's goods and services exports saw a major jump in recent years.

Türkiye's exports to Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries soared from $296.6 million in 2003 to $6 billion in 2021 thanks to the country's policy of outreach to Latin America.

The region's share of Türkiye's exports also jumped to from 0.6% to 2.7% in the same period.

Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Colombia were the main markets of Turkish exports in the region, with $3.5 billion in 2021.

The country's imports from Latin America and Caribbean's also surged to $8.9 billion in 2021 versus $1.2 billion in 2003.

This upward trend has continued this year, as Türkiye's exports to LAC jumped 14.1% year-on-year to $4.3 billion in January-August while imports ballooned 47.9% to 8.4 billion.

The services trade volume between Türkiye and the region reached $14.9 billion in 2021, compared to $8.9 billion in 2013.

The figure hit $11.1 this January-July.

Meanwhile, as Latin American audiences have shown great interest in Turkish soap operas and films since 2015, nearly one-third of Türkiye's TV series exports in recent years went to Latin American countries.

Almost all of the TV shows on national channels in Türkiye are shown in Chile.

In addition, as of end-2021, Turkish TV programs began to be procured by Brazil's largest television and digital platforms.

In Mexico, Turkish series are watched on paid TV channels, while Turkish movies are followed on digital platforms.

Argentina also stands out as another Latin American country where Turkish TV series and movies enjoy a large market share.