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50 billion USD trade volume eyed between Turkey and Germany

Istanbul

In a recent announcement, Gonca Yilmaz Batur, the Deputy Trade Minister of Turkey confirmed that Germany is the most important trading partner in Europe for Turkey and that Germany and Turkey are aiming to reach a massive 50 billion USD trade volume over time.


Trade plan between Turkey and Germany

When speaking at a Turkish Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) meeting on bilateral trade, Batur said that: “We believe that the potential between the two countries will neutralise the negative effects of the COVID-19 epidemic soon and we will bring the trade volume to its previous levels. We want to reach a 40 billion USD trade volume initially, then 50 billion USD in the long run.”


Bilateral trade figures

The bilateral trade figure at the end of 2019 stood at 35.9 billion USD and began strong in the first two months of this year, but then declined dramatically due to the pandemic crisis. Batur also confirmed how significant it was to update the customs union between Turkey and the EU, and said that Turkey expects strong backing from Germany.

Turkish and European officials have carried out several talks to revise the current customs union so that both countries were in complete agreement. Over the past three years talks have stalled due to political tensions, even though officials and those in business circles have done everything they can to maintain dialogue.


Importance for Turkey

The Turkey-Germany Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) is incredibly important to Turkey, with Batur voicing that Turkey wants to hold the next meeting before the year is out. The deputy minister also spoke about how the Turkish-Germany cooperation can be moved to third countries where all the businesspeople would be able to work together.


Top export market

According to data released from TURKSTAT (Turkish Statistical Institute) the German export market for Turkey reached a total of 9.76 billion USD, coming in second to China who were Turkey’s top import market in the same period and totalled 12.64 billion USD.

Recent reports made by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Fitch the international credit rating agency, confirmed that the economy in Turkey will not be as negatively affected by COVID-19 as they had first expected. Batur added that the investment opportunities in the country have also improved over recent years thanks to their incentive system.

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