Senior public- and private-sector representatives from Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) gathered Monday to explore investment and cooperation opportunities in logistics, transport infrastructure and supply chains.
Officials said the UAE-Türkiye Logistics and Infrastructure Forum in Istanbul sought to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in logistics, transport infrastructure, supply chains and industrial investment.
It also aimed at developing concrete investment and trade opportunities along the Middle Corridor, which connects Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia with the Gulf region.
Speaking at the opening, UAE Ambassador to Türkiye Saeed Thani Al Dhaheri said the forum was organized to bring major companies to identify investment opportunities along the Middle Corridor and the Development Road project, while assessing logistics capabilities in Türkiye and the UAE.
The Middle Corridor, officially known as the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), is a multimodal land-and-sea trade network connecting China and Central Asia to Europe. Türkiye is a key transit hub in the corridor.
Unveiled in May 2023, the Development Road is a $20 billion regional infrastructure initiative designed to facilitate the transport of goods from the Gulf to Europe via the Grand Faw Port in Basra in southern Iraq. The port would be linked to Türkiye and subsequently to Europe through an extensive network of railways and highways.
In April 2024, Türkiye, Iraq, the UAE and Qatar signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for joint cooperation on the project.
"We do not view the Middle Corridor and the Development Route as two competing routes or as alternatives to one another," said Al Dhaheri, adding that they differ in terms of their directions and the cargo bases they serve.
"Both routes converge in Türkiye and both extend to Europe. This is, by its very nature, a complementary intersection," he noted.
"The capabilities of Türkiye and those of the United Arab Emirates come together in a natural and complementary way."
Al Dhaheri also highlighted the growth in bilateral economic ties. Non-oil trade between the two countries surpassed the $40 billion target ahead of schedule, reaching $45.2 billion in 2025.
"This figure represents a 15.5% increase in just one year and is approximately three times the 2022 level," said the ambassador.
Al Dhaheri attributed the strengthening of ties to high-level contacts between UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as well as meetings and reciprocal visits under the countries' High-Level Strategic Committee.
Also addressing the event, Ali Kamil Özmen, head of the public-private partnership department at the Presidential Investment Office, said Türkiye is supporting its goal of becoming a hub through substantial infrastructure investments.
In a global environment where some trade routes have become unstable due to regional and international geopolitical developments, Özmen said the importance of alternative east-west corridors has become even more evident.
The Middle Corridor, with Türkiye at its center, offers a significant time advantage and resilience by reducing transit times from China to Europe to just 18 days, he added.
The Middle Corridor is becoming part of a broader regional connectivity network, supported by $7.8 billion in infrastructure investments by Türkiye and $20 billion in Iraq.