One of the most important development areas of bilateral relations between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia is the financial sector, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said Thursday, inviting Saudi investors from all over the world, as well as international investors investing in Turkish financial markets, to take advantage of the opportunities in the markets.

Nebati was speaking at the Türkiye-Saudi Arabia Business and Investment Forum, hosted by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK).

He pointed out that Türkiye’s finance and banking sector is highly integrated with global financial markets, has a strong regulatory and supervisory infrastructure, strong human capital, serves as a pioneer in innovative applications and has carried the economy much further. Nebati added that the sector, which has successfully passed important stress tests such as the global financial crisis and pandemic, was appreciated by foreign financial circles and attracted increasing interest from foreign investors.

Stating that this integration with the global financial markets is actually one of the most important pillars in boosting the economy much further, Nebati said: "Our stock market, which has an important place among the emerging markets, continues to offer attractive return opportunities to domestic and foreign investors with its market depth and high liquidity. The strong investor interest in Borsa Istanbul, whose indices have reached historically high levels recently, brings with it daily trading volume records."

Pointing out that Borsa Istanbul has ranked high worldwide in risk-adjusted returns over the past year, Nebati said: "In addition to its deep-rooted bond tradition, our ministry has been issuing lease certificates, namely 'sukuks,' in both domestic and foreign markets since 2012."

The "sukuk" in particular is an Islamic financial certificate, similar to a bond in Western finance.

Nebati, further commenting on Türkiye-Saudi Arabia business relations, said, the bilateral trade volume, which was $3.7 billion in 2021, increased to $4.3 billion in the January-October period of 2022.

"This is pleasing, but we need to act faster to reach our goals," he said, noting that the trade volume is expected to reach $10 billion in a very short time and they aim to increase this figure to $30 billion quickly.