Turkey, Singapore aim for $2 bln trade volume by 2018

SINGAPORE - Anadolu Agency

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Turkey and Singapore want to reach $2 billion in trade volume by the end of 2018, said Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci on Aug. 21.

A free-trade agreement between Turkey and Singapore will come into force by Oct. 1, Zeybekci said in a speech to the Turkey-Singapore Business Forum.

“We started talks on the broadest and most-comprehensive free-trade agreement in Turkey’s history with Singapore, and finalized it in 2015. Singapore is the first country I came to as a minister and the Turkey-Singapore Free Trade Agreement [TSFTA] became the first free-trade agreement that I started and finalized as a minister,” he added.      

Zeybekci said the deal would be significant for free production, sales, service investments, public procurement, and other industrial fields.

Turkey’s export value to Singapore totaled nearly $418 million last year while imports from the Asian country were worth $363 million in the same period, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.

Turkey’s exports to Singapore saw an upward trend in the first half of 2017, reaching $434 million while imports were worth $177.5 million in the first six months of this year.

Zeybekci said there was also an opportunity for Singaporean and Turkish business circles to cooperate with a third country.

Turkish businessmen might consider Singapore as a platform from which they can identify important investment opportunities in the region with the help of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said the minister.