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Türkiye and Qatar aim to increase their bilateral trade volume to $5 billion, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said Monday.
Bolat met Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Sayed at the Trade Ministry in Ankara.
“Türkiye-Qatar relations have truly made tremendous progress,” Bolat told reporters after the meeting. “Our total annual foreign trade increased 53-fold over the past 21 years, reaching $1.3 billion last year.”
Trade between the two countries rose as high as $2.5 billion during preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, largely because of construction projects, Bolat said.
He said the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement between Türkiye and Qatar, which entered into force last year, would make a significant contribution to reaching the $5 billion trade target.
Turkish contractors have undertaken 206 projects worth a combined $21 billion in Qatar, Bolat said.
Around 250 Qatari companies have investments totaling $7.8 billion in Türkiye, spanning sectors including finance, banking, energy, logistics, media and agriculture.
Approximately 1,116 Turkish companies of various sizes operate in Qatar’s construction, services and manufacturing sectors.
Bolat said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the war in the region had created logistics and supply bottlenecks, highlighting the need for alternative routes.
“The current circumstances have shown that alternative routes are greatly needed to avoid dependence solely on maritime transport and the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
Türkiye is working to meet demand from Qatar and other Gulf countries for consumer goods, Bolat said.
Under a transit transportation agreement with Saudi Arabia that took effect April 15, Turkish carriers have been conducting intensive shipments to Gulf countries through Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, as well as through Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
“We will work together to establish these transit and trade corridors on a stronger and more stable basis,” Bolat said.
Bolat added that Al-Sayed conveyed the Qatar Investment Authority’s desire to expand its investments in Türkiye and said initiatives were underway in this regard.
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