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American companies are planning significant investments and expansions in Türkiye, with the most positive business interactions in three years occurring this week, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said during a visit to the Istanbul Furniture Design Fair on Friday.
"The American business world looks very favorably at working with Türkiye. All major American companies have serious presence in Türkiye and are trying to increase it," Bolat told reporters at the Istanbul Fair Center.
The minister, who accompanied President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the U.N. General Assembly's 80th session in New York, reported conducting more than eight meetings with U.S. business representatives, including real sector investors and financial sector representatives.
"All of them have investment and expansion plans, and these will be realized in a very short time," Bolat stated.
"I've been participating in those meetings for three years. The most positive, most constructive interactions occurred this year, this week," he added.
According to Bolat, American investors rank second among foreign investors in Türkiye with $15.5 billion in investments, though Americans claim the figure reaches approximately $60 billion when calculated by their methods, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Addressing Türkiye's furniture industry performance, Bolat highlighted remarkable growth over the past 22 years, with general goods and services exports increasing seven-and-a-half-fold while furniture exports surged 20-fold to reach $4.5 billion annually.
"Our furniture sector has now risen to the super league. In this super league, it competes with certain major countries in the world," he said, noting that Türkiye exports approximately $600 million worth of furniture to the United States annually.
The minister acknowledged new U.S. tariffs effective Oct. 1—50% on kitchen and bathroom cabinets and 30% on upholstered furniture—but emphasized the government's support for exporters navigating these changes.
Bolat reported that Türkiye achieved export growth in six of the first eight months of this year, with a 4.3% increase totaling $7.4 billion in merchandise exports compared to the same period last year.
"Despite the stagnation in our export markets and decreases in their imports, we continue to increase our exports," he said, expressing determination to maintain this momentum through year-end.
The minister attributed the improved business climate to strengthening political relations between Türkiye and the United States.
"Turkish-U.S. relations are going quite well in the political field. Defense discussions are also going extremely well. We are at the beginning of a leap in investment and trade," Bolat stated.
He noted that half of Türkiye's $16.5 billion annual exports to the United States are actually conducted by American companies operating in Türkiye, demonstrating deep economic integration between the two nations.
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