Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat acknowledged Thursday that ministers of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) have agreed on implementing new-generation devices to strengthen financial and commerce cooperation between the states.
Speaking on the closing of the twelfth assembly of ministers answerable for economic system and commerce of the Organization of Turkic States, Bolat mentioned: “Today, as the OTS, we have once again confirmed the organization’s strong potential with the vision it has put forth and the alternatives it has produced.”
“We have decided to continue our efforts to strengthen this organization as one of the leading organizations of the 21st century in the field of trade and economy by strengthening the foundation laid by our presidents with new projects in the field of trade and economy,” he mentioned.
Recalling that they took essential steps to take away obstacles to commerce with the ‘International Freight Transport Agreement’ signed final yr, ‘Simplified Customs Corridor Agreement’ and ‘Trade Facilitation Strategic Document,’ the minister detailed the scope of initiatives for the upcoming interval.
“As a result of today’s ministerial meeting, we have agreed to implement new-generation instruments that will strengthen economic and trade cooperation among our countries, such as the signing of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the TURANSEZ Special Economic Zone (a special economic zone in Turkistan) in the upcoming period,” he mentioned.
“Considering the increasing importance of services trade and investments in the 21st century, we are evaluating the possibilities of establishing a ‘Service Trade and Investment Free Trade Agreement’ within the members of the OTS, and we are working on it,” the minister famous.
“Today, we have expressed our intention to start negotiations as soon as possible for this agreement.”
Noting that the member nations of the group had roughly $33 billion in exports between themselves in 2022, Bolat mentioned that this determine “corresponds to six% of our nations’ whole exports to the world.”
“Our goal is to fully realize the commercial potential our region offers and to raise the share of intra-regional exports within the member countries’ total exports to at least 10% in the coming period,” he mentioned.
The OTS, previously generally known as the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, is an inter-state bloc with the first goal of encouraging complete cooperation amongst Turkic states.
It has 4 founding members: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Türkiye. Uzbekistan joined as a full member through the seventh annual summit in Baku in 2019.
Hungary was granted observer standing in 2018, following Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) grew to become the most recent observer member final yr.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
