Türkiye and Syria aim to further improve bilateral trade, planning to have a joint mechanism meeting and an investment forum in the upcoming period, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said Wednesday.
The minister spoke with Kuteybe Ahmed Bedevi, the head of the Syrian General Administration of Border Crossings and Customs, and Nidal al-Shaar, the Syrian minister of economy and industry, Bolat said on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal.
Bolat and Bedevi comprehensively evaluated cooperation in the field of customs, including the improvement and acceleration of processes in mutual trade, he said.
The discussions also focused on the modernization and expansion of customs gates and the acceleration of transit passages between the two nations, according to Bolat.
"We agreed to hold the first meeting of the Türkiye-Syria Joint Customs Committee, signed in December, as soon as possible," he wrote.
Moreover, he suggested that the strengthening of logistics networks will contribute to regional connectivity by drawing strength from the energy created by the new administration in Syria.
Bolat and al-Shaar, at the same time, evaluated steps to further strengthen investment relations and the total trade volume, which reached $3.7 billion last year.
"We have agreed to hold the JETCO (Joint Economic and Trade Committee) mechanism meeting, established between the Turkish and Syrian Ministries of Trade, in the spring. We also decided to hold a comprehensive business and investment forum on the sidelines of the meeting," he also said.
"We will continue our efforts to increase our trade with Syria and strengthen our bilateral partnerships," Bolat highlighted.
