UAE and Turkey Widening Trade Relations

Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, led a high-level UAE governmental and private sector delegation to Istanbul for the inaugural session of the UAE-Turkey Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO).

Established during Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the UAE in July this year, the body is designed to expand and diversify the two nations' trade and commercial relations and help achieve the goals of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which came into force on September 1 with the aim of increasing non-oil trade to USD 40 billion within five years, as per aninews.

During the meeting, Al Zeyoudi and Omer Bolat, the Republic of Turkey's Minister of Trade, celebrated the advancement of UAE-Turkish relations and expressed excitement about the prospects for deeper economic integration.

Bilateral non-oil trade reached USD 13.5 billion in the first half of 2023, an increase of 87% over the same time in 2022. This is nearly equal to the whole non-oil trade in 2021 and more than double what was achieved in 2020. Turkey is the UAE's fastest-growing trading partner among its top 10 and the country's sixth largest overall, accounting for more than 3% of total non-oil trade. 

In terms of investment, the UAE has currently invested USD 7.8 billion in Turkey.Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Special Envoy to the Republic of Turkey, Saeed Thani Al Dhaheri, UAE Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, Mohammad Saeed Al Nuaimi, Acting Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Climate Change and the Environment, and HE Juma Mohammed Al Kait, Assistant Undersecretary for International Trade Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Economy, joined Al Zeyoudi at the commission.