Türkiye, Qatar target $5 billion in bilateral trade

ISTANBUL  

Türkiye and Qatar aim to increase their bilateral trade volume to $5 billion, Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat has said.

Bolat met with Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Sayed, at the Trade Ministry in Ankara on Aug. 24.

“Türkiye-Qatar relations have truly made tremendous progress. Our total annual foreign trade increased 53-fold over the past 21 years, reaching $1.3 billion last year,” Bolat told reporters after the meeting.

Trade between the two countries climbed as high as $2.5 billion during preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, largely due to construction projects, he added.

Bolat said the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement between Türkiye and Qatar, which entered into force last year, would make a significant contribution to achieving the $5 billion trade target.

Turkish contractors have undertaken 206 projects worth a combined $21 billion in Qatar, he said.

Around 250 Qatari companies have investments totaling $7.8 billion in Türkiye, spanning sectors including finance, banking, energy, logistics, media and agriculture.

Meanwhile, approximately 1,116 Turkish companies of various sizes operate in Qatar’s construction, services and manufacturing sectors.

Bolat said that Al-Sayed conveyed the Qatar Investment Authority’s desire to expand its investments in Türkiye and said initiatives were underway in this regard.