At EU-Turkish high-level business meeting, officials, business leaders tout economic ties

By Rabia Iclal Turan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish and EU officials and business leaders alike praised economic relations between Türkiye and the bloc Tuesday at a high-level business dialogue meeting in Istanbul, with a packed gathering discussing ways to further bilateral economic cooperation.

Organized by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) and European Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Eurochambres), the meeting started with opening remarks by Faruk Kaymakci, Türkiye’s deputy foreign minister and director for EU Affairs, Oliver Varhelyi, European commissioner for neighborhood and enlargement, TOBB head and Eurochambres Vice President Rifat Hisarciklioglu, and Eurochambres President Luc Frieden,.

The last Türkiye-EU High Level Economic Dialogue was held in February 2019, three-and-a-half years ago.

Addressing the participants, Kaymakci underlined the importance of bilateral travel between the EU and Türkiye, and also touched on the issue of facilitating visas.

As Turkish officials say the EU failed to live up to its promise of visa-free travel under a 2016 migration pact, in recent months members of the Turkish public and businesspeople have said visa procedures for Europe take months, involve too much paperwork, and are rejected far too often.

Varhelyi started his speech by praising Türkiye as “a major economic partner, a candidate country, and a key NATO ally.”

Varhelyi said the “complex relations” between Türkiye and the EU are “very important these days,” especially due to the war in Ukraine.

- 'Long-lasting, unique partnership'

Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet Mus said Türkiye and the EU have a "long-lasting and unique partnership" covering many key areas such as trade, security, migration, and energy.

"Among all these areas, trade has a central role in relations between Türkiye and the EU," Mus said. "The backbone of our partnership with the EU is the (1963) Ankara Agreement and the (1995) Customs Union as its ultimate outcome."

"The volume of trade between the EU and Türkiye has increased almost sixfold during the period of the Customs Union, and it is expected to reach $200 billion by the end of this year," he added.

In the meeting’s welcoming remarks, Hisarciklioglu underlined the importance of cooperation.

“It is important to sit together as the EU and Türkiye business communities, Turkish government, and European Commission and talk about the current situation and ways and means to find commons solutions,” Hisarciklioglu said.

Telling how the annual trade in goods between the EU and Türkiye recently hit €132 billion ($123.3 billion), he added that Türkiye’s exports to the EU are valued at around €63 billion.

“These exports consist mainly of machinery and transport equipment, clothing, agriculture, and raw materials,” he added.

Frieden praised the deep economic relations between Türkiye and the EU, calling Türkiye an “important business partner.”

“That’s why I’m happy that we have dialogue today,” Frieden said.​​​​​​​