President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday that Turkey’s trade deal with the United Kingdom is the most important agreement since the customs union with the European Union.
“We are also in talks to update the customs union with the EU. I hope we will progress in all of these efforts in 2021,” Erdoğan told young businesspeople in a meeting in Istanbul.
In a major milestone, Turkey and the U.K. signed the FTA in late December.
The U.K. is Turkey’s second-largest trading partner after Germany. It is also among the 17 countries with which Turkey has increased its exports in 2019 in five priority sectors: machinery, automotive, electronics, chemicals and food. Turkey’s top exports to the U.K. are electrical machinery and devices.
Erdoğan also noted that Turkey will take every step necessary to create an environment for better investment opportunities, adding that Turkey has had $15 billion worth of foreign portfolio entry in recent months.
“Our goal is make Turkey strong and competitive global player for post-COVID period,” the president said.
