Türkiye and Qatar on Thursday voiced robust political relations as they expressed a strong will to further expand mutual investments and cooperation areas.
That came as Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and his Qatari counterpart Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari on Thursday met in Istanbul for the Türkiye-Qatar Joint Economic Commission meeting.
Şimşek highlighted the strong political ties between Ankara and Doha, expressing gratitude for Qatar's support following the February 2023 earthquake in southeastern Türkiye.
"The aim of this high-level dialogue is to strengthen the deep-rooted relations between Türkiye and Qatar, as we agreed to work together towards increasing mutual investments, expanding cooperation areas, boosting export financing and financing for large projects and green growth, exploring further trade opportunities, expanding cooperation in housing and real estate investments, facilitating aviation operations, and sharing our experience on economic reforms," Şimşek said.
"We're also looking forward to cooperating more closely and expanding our partnerships to third-party countries," he added.
Şimşek stated that free trade agreements with 54 countries are giving Türkiye access to a $30 trillion market, including the EU.
He said this provides it with resilience against trade protectionism, and noted that regional integration is the best hedge against vulnerability while there is fragmentation in global trade.
Al Kuwari noted that last year's discussions in Ankara were productive and reaffirmed the ongoing economic partnership between Türkiye and Qatar.
"Over the years, we enhanced our dynamic economic relations with investments and joint ventures," he mentioned.
"Our energy cooperation has seen significant growth and contributed to the economies of the two countries, particularly through liquefied natural gas deals, namely the 2015 LNG deal, which was a crucial step in reinforcing our long-term commitments," he said.
Al Kuwari said the two nations are committed to exploring new areas for cooperation and underscored that a free trade deal between Türkiye and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), currently under negotiations, would be an important step toward boosting trade and investment flows.
He said the agreement is expected to open new markets, reduce trade barriers, and bring a more favorable environment for businesses in the two countries and the region at large.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance mutual cooperation.
