Trade Minister Ömer Bolat on Wednesday said Türkiye and Czechia were determined to raise their bilateral goods exchange volume to $10 billion (TL 321.81 billion) in three to four years.
Bolat's remarks came on the sidelines of the Türkiye-Czechia Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO) meeting in Prague.
"The Czech minister and I signed the Türkiye-Czechia JETCO agreement, and now, the relations between the two countries are more constructive and friendly,” he told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Czech Trade Minister Jozef Sikela attended the meeting along with ambassadors from both countries.
"The two NATO members, Türkiye and Czechia, support each other in political, military, and defense fields,” he added.
Bolat noted that the volume of foreign trade between Türkiye and Czechia has risen nearly thirteenfold since 2002, from $450 million to $5.8 billion. Of this, Czechia’s exports to Türkiye amount to $3.8 billion, he said.
"Czech firms have investments amounting to $660 million in Türkiye, while Turkish investors invested $40 million in Czechia,” said Bolat.
"Czechia has a strong economy in the automotive, energy, porcelain, crystal and machinery sectors. Additionally, they have many investments in hydraulic dams and power plants in Türkiye,” he added.
Citing the important opportunities to be seized in renewable energy, Bolat underlined that 42% of Türkiye’s total energy production comes from water, wind and solar energy.
"We have a long way to go to reach our goal of a carbon-free economy by 2053,” he said.
Bolat mentioned that tourism between Türkiye and Czechia continues to improve, with nearly 100,000 Turkish citizens visiting Czechia on an annual basis. Czech citizens coming to Türkiye reached around 400,000, he added.
He also highlighted Türkiye’s successful and competitive services sector.
"Tourism, logistics, health, education and cultural tourism of Türkiye provide great opportunities, and coupled with Czechia’s strong economy and industry sector, the two countries have complementary sectors," the minister noted.
"We made a commitment for Türkiye and Czechia to reach a trade volume of $10 billion in the next three to four years, and we will accomplish this together with the private sector, as well as increasing participation in international expos and business forum meetings.”
Bolat stated that he expects the support of Czechia in terms of relations with the European Union for visa facilitation for Turkish nationals.
He noted that Czechia wants the Turkish economy to develop further and stabilize, as it aims to do more business in Türkiye.
