Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed 16 cooperation agreements worth more than $610 million (SR2.3 billion) in several fields and investment sectors.
The agreements were signed on the sidelines of the Saudi-Turkish Business Forum held in Istanbul. These include investments in real estate, construction, engineering consultancy and other sectors.
“Under the leadership of our president, we will continue our efforts to further improve the relations between Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, with which we have strong historical and cultural ties,” Omer Bolat, Turkish minister of trade, posted on Twitter.
The signings were supervised by the Saudi Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, who called for enhanced cooperation and exchange of successful experiences in the municipality and housing sectors.
He also invited Turkish business people to Riyadh in September 2023 for the major real estate expo Cityscape Global.
Al-Hogail also expressed his aspiration to strengthen cooperation in the fields of real estate development, automation, and infrastructure projects between Saudi Arabia and Turkiye.
The forum reviewed the Saudi-Turkish investment opportunities. The meeting was also attended by Turkiye’s Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Simsek and the president of the Turkish Contractors’ Association, Erdal Eren.
Agreements
The agreements would enhance the partnership between the two sides in the fields of urban development, building, contracting, and smart cities in cooperation with the Federation of Saudi Chambers (FSC) and the Turkish Council for Foreign Economic Relations of Turkey (DEİK).
Türkiye’s Trade Minister Omer Bolat said that Turkiye and Saudi Arabia’s bilateral trade was recorded at $6.5 billion last year, and has reached $3.4 billion in the first half of 2023.
The two countries have set the bilateral trade target of $10 billion for the short term and $30 billion for the long term, he said. Saudi Arabia and Turkiye have also commenced discussions on the free trade agreement (FTA) to facilitate the movement of goods and services.
Erdogan set to visit Saudi Arabia
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is expected to begin a Middle East tour during July 17-19, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, Turkish media reported.
“We would like to further strengthen all kinds of relations between us by traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE,” Erdogan told reporters while returning from NATO’s annual summit in the Lithuanian capital.
He said that the visit offers the opportunity to personally follow up on the investments and finalize agreements. He added that these investments could be in Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, or the UAE. Turkey looks forward to direct investments of some $10 billion initially from the Gulf states, and $30 billion in total, in Turkey’s energy, infrastructure and defense sectors.
This will be Erdogan’s first regional trip after his election victory in May.