Turkey, China set eyes on $100 bln in mutual trade
Turkey and China Wednesday announced a goal to boost bilateral trade from the current $24 billion to $100 billion over the next eight years as senior government officials from two of the world's fastest growing economies met in İstanbul to discuss measures to facilitate trade.
One of the largest buyers of Chinese products, Turkey has long complained about an imbalance in bilateral trade, seeking ways to attract as much foreign direct investment (FDI) from the Asian country as possible. Turkish ministers did not hesitate to use Wednesday's Turkey-China Business Forum, which brought 200 Chinese businessmen together with their Turkish counterparts, as an opportunity to reiterate calls for increased efforts to minimize a widening trade deficit with China.
Pressure on China to this end is on the rise as Turkey is not the only country complaining about Chinese products swamping their markets. Chinese firms were accompanying China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping, who arrived on Tuesday in Ankara to meet President Abdullah Gül as part of a two-day visit.
Delivering a speech at Wednesday's meeting Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan said the government was not happy with the current trade imbalance with China, adding new Chinese investments in Turkey would help remedy the situation. Çağlayan complained that Chinese investments in Turkey are below the desired level, underlying which he cited a lack of good information about the trade opportunities Turkey offers. “We must increase the number and scale of such mutual business forums and trade fairs to better understand each other,” he added. Çağlayan announced that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan planned a visit to Beijing in April and he said this visit could be an opportunity to cement trade ties for the future.
(source: www.todayszaman.com)
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|














