Longstanding co-operation between Turkey and the Region has been built on solid basis in 2008 by the declaration of Turkey as a “strategic partner” by the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). For the expansion of trade volume in the region, Turkey has begun to make more positive and disciplined practices in the region that has high consumption of the products needed in these countries with high income, mainly from oil and gas, as well as many domestic and foreign investors. The Gulf countries have a significant share particularly in the real estate sector in Turkey. The Arabs, who only used to purchase summer resorts or residences to live in the holidays, have recently become the largest investors, on the other hand, the tourism and industrial production have become salient investment sectors. In this context, Turkey is among the prominent countries in the commercial sector of the Gulf. When we look from the perspective of imports and exports in terms of costs, civil wars and crises in Syria cause transportation-related costincreasing problems in the trade routes between our country and the Gulf. However, because of the activated alternative routes, the trade has been maintained without any interruption. The visits of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Bahrain on 12-13 February, to Saudi Arabia on 13- 14 February and to Qatar on 14-15 February have been very beneficial for Turkey and the region and have provided momentum for commercial activities. According to official figures, with the export of 27 billion dollars between 2007 and 2016, Saudi Arabia comes first among the countries that Turkey exports. This country was followed by Qatar with 3 billion 870 million dollars and Bahrain with 1 billion 660 million dollars. When we look at the official figures again, with 16 billion 300 million dollars in the last decade, Saudi Arabia has been the Gulf country from which Turkey has most imported. Saudi Arabia has been followed by Qatar with 2 billion 800 million dollars and Bahrain with 1 billion 280 million dollars. As can be understood from the above data, the trade between Turkey and the Region has been made within the framework of win-win cooperation. The major products that Turkey imports from the region are vessels, yachts, machines and furniture,
plastics and its products, mineral fuels, railway vehicles other than trams, machinery, boilers, electrical and electronic equipment, aluminum, petroleum and derivatives. One of the most important advantages for the Turkish investors to invest in the region is that the Free Trade Agreement between the Region and the United States makes the region more advantageous in terms of investments. Foreigners have the opportunity to establish a company easily in these countries and even in some Gulf countries, companies can be established by one hundred percent foreign capital. As another important point for the investor, not having income and corporate tax can be considered as the most important advantage.
Leave a Reply