Technology-focused cooperation will open new doors for Turkish and Kyrgyz business circles, Turkey's vice president said Friday as he attended a meeting to expand multilateral cooperation between the private and public sectors of both countries.
Speaking at the 10th Turkey-Kyrgyzstan Joint Economic Commission Meeting, Vice President Fuat Oktay called on businesspeople to form new partnerships in investments for digital platforms and jointly produce new technologies of the future.
Rapid infrastructure transformation can be achieved in Kyrgyzstan if development-oriented smart city perspectives and digital transformation steps are supported by the vision and know-how of Turkish companies from the defense industry to health technologies, Oktay stressed.
"We can pass on our experience to Kyrgyzstan with our technoparks, industrial zones and incentives for the digital transformation process in industry, we can strengthen our brotherhood with joint startups," he said.
The meeting aims to address new cooperation opportunities and open the doors for new partnerships between the two countries' businesspeople, the vice president stressed.
The friendly ties will grow stronger every day through new investments and cooperation between institutions and will lead to regional gains covering other countries, Oktay said.
"Turkey has always supported and will continue supporting the efforts of brotherly Kyrgyzstan to become an independent, stable and prosperous country that stands on its own feet," he said.
Noting that Turkey's investments in Kyrgyzstan – with investments through third countries – have topped $1 billion (TL 8.44 billion), Oktay said the bilateral trade volume last year reached $509 million.
In the first eight months of this year, the bilateral trade volume jumped 78% year-on-year to $508 million, the vice president underlined, adding that the figure falls short of the countries' potential.
"Our trade ties can go beyond items such as textiles, iron and steel products, logistics, machinery and agricultural products, and expand into areas such as energy, mining, defense industry and technology products," Oktay said.
Stressing that investments in digital areas yield much more profit than conventional business models, Oktay said: "Tech-focused cooperation offers opportunities with high potential to our businesspeople."
Oktay attended the meeting in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek with Ulukbek Maripo, the chairperson of Kyrgyzstan's Cabinet.
The meeting was attended by Turkish businesspeople, and participants discussed investments, added value and new business opportunities to create in Kyrgyzstan.
