Foreign trade almost at a halt in two provinces

ANKARA

Two eastern provinces of Turkey have recorded zero imports and barely any exports in the first quarter of the year, a period that the country posted $17.2 billion in trade deficit, recent TurkStat data has shown.
 
The country’s foreign trade deficit stood at nearly $21.8 billion in the same period a year earlier. 

Bingöl exported goods worth $50,000 in the given period, as Tunceli, the second province with no imports, followed with $61,000, standing at the bottom line of Turkey’s foreign trade listing.  

Istanbul took the lead in the quarterly trade deficit with $8 billion despite the quarterly exports at $20.6 billion.

The power engine of the country is also the hub for Turkish foreign trade with a more than 50 percent share. 

Only 30 out of 81 Turkish provinces posted trade surplus, southeastern Gaziantep achieving the safest spot with $394.4 million. The province is Turkey’s trade gate to its eastern neighbors.

The source of some $8.4 billion portion of the 57.5 billion Turkish imports was recorded as “confidential” in the state-run statistics body’s report. 

Şırnak, neighboring both Syria and Iraq, made $242.5 million in exports, surpassing its quarterly import at $9.2 million.