Türkiye and Qatar have agreed to further deepen their commercial and economic relations by expanding existing cooperation and enhancing the trade volume, fostering new collaboration that will benefit both sides, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said Thursday.
He held the meeting with Qatar’s Commerce and Industry Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani in Istanbul.
Meanwhile, the inaugural meeting of the Türkiye-Qatar Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO) was held with the participation of representatives of both countries' public and private sectors.
Following the meeting, the two countries signed the JECTO agreement.
The JETCO Protocol encompasses various areas, including bilateral trade relations, mutual investments, collaboration in third-country construction services and cooperation on issues ranging from green transformation to customs procedures, Bolat said in a written statement on X, formerly Twitter.
"We have outlined a road map to surpass our bilateral trade volume, which has increased by more than 50 times in the last 20 years with Qatar, aiming to exceed the $5 billion (TL 153.41 billion) target set by our leaders," he added.
"We are determined to elevate our strategically founded friendly relations with Qatar to even greater heights through economic and trade initiatives."
Highlighting the importance of the private sector's involvement the minister voiced the need for increasing collaboration and visits between countries' private sectors to enhance bilateral trade relations and investment opportunities within the framework of JETCO Protocol.
"Furthermore, we underline the readiness of our contracting firms to undertake major infrastructure and superstructure projects in Qatar within the context of Qatar's 2030 Vision," he said.
The minister also recalled that in 2023 the bilateral trade volume between the two countries reached approximately $1.3 billion and expressed belief that the Türkiye-Qatar Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement, set to come into effect very soon would further add to this figure.
Bolat pointed out another potential in the economic relations between nations lies in mutual investments, and said that the investments of Qatari companies in Türkiye have reached $10 billion.
He said that apart from fields including climate change, energy, water and food security, Türkiye has also attracted investments from Qatar in the health, tourism, transportation and finance sectors and that they were pleased to see the Gulf country evaluating investment opportunities within the country.