Türkiye and Saudi Arabia careworn what they are saying is the complementary nature of their economies at a significant gathering on Friday, expressing dedication to additional improve ties and discover concrete avenues for collaboration.
Senior officers from each nations demonstrated eagerness to leverage their respective strengths and discover new alternatives, as they add tempo to normalizing relations that had been strained over the current years.
Addressing the Türkiye-Saudi Arabia Investment and Business Forum in Istanbul, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek underscored the depth of alternatives for collaboration throughout a number of sectors.
Şimşek careworn Türkiye’s experience and assets within the tourism area, expressing readiness to help Saudi Arabia.
“Türkiye is currently the fourth in the world in terms of the number of tourists. We have great knowledge, experience and resources in this area. Here we can assist Saudi Arabia,” Şimşek stated.
He recognized building as one other promising sector, noting Türkiye’s distinguished world presence within the area and expressing curiosity in collaborating in Saudi Arabia’s formidable tasks.
“Türkiye is one of the major global players in the construction sector. This is also an area where we can collaborate. Construction of some of the world’s largest projects has already begun in Saudi Arabia, and we want to be part of it,” the minister famous.
Defense area
Delving into developments over the previous twenty years, notably in aviation and protection sectors, Şimşek outlined Türkiye’s progress and signaled potential collaborations between the 2 nations in third-party markets.
“Saudi Arabia aims to localize its defense industry. We are open to joint design, development, production and global export projects,” he added.
Last 12 months, Saudi Arabia agreed to a deal to purchase drones from pioneering Turkish developer, Baykar, within the greatest protection contract in Türkiye’s historical past.
The deal was adopted by a strategic settlement to localize the manufacturing of drones within the kingdom.
Şimşek additionally addressed the pivotal position Türkiye and Saudi Arabia might play in fostering peace and safety within the area amid world upheavals, stressing the significance of deterrent nations throughout such turbulent instances.
Throughout his presentation, Şimşek elucidated varied funding benefits Türkiye affords to buyers. He highlighted the huge potential in inexperienced areas and merchandise, suggesting alternatives for joint ventures with Saudi Arabia.
“We are investing in renewable energy. We will invest at least $100 billion over 12 years,” he stated.
Additionally, the minister mentioned Türkiye’s investments in infrastructure, emphasizing the nation’s imaginative and prescient in areas similar to synthetic intelligence and digitalization.
Partnership prospects
Şimşek’s remarks had been echoed by Khalid A. Al Falih, the Saudi minister of funding, and Ahmed Al Khateeb, the Saudi minister of tourism, who additionally emphasised the prospects of an financial partnership between the 2 nations.
Al Falih expressed the dominion’s curiosity in joint ventures with Türkiye, whereas Al Khateeb underscored tourism as an important element of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 imaginative and prescient, citing the convenience of entry facilitated by digital visa programs and the potential for collaboration in infrastructure tasks.
Furthermore, stakeholders together with Burak Dağlıoğlu, the pinnacle of the Presidency’s Investment Office, and Nail Olpak, the chair of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), emphasised the complementary nature of Turkish and Saudi economies and the necessity for deeper cooperation throughout varied sectors.
Dağlıoğlu highlighted the synergies between the nations in varied sectors and the rising bilateral commerce and funding, whereas Olpak emphasised the importance of sustained momentum and the potential for joint ventures in third-party international locations.
“When considering Türkiye, please also consider our capacities outside of Türkiye,” stated Dağlıoğlu. “Türkiye has a large domestic market, but it is also a gateway to a broader region.”
He stated exports to Saudi Arabia elevated by over 100% final 12 months and careworn the aim to encourage extra funding in Türkiye.
For his half, Olpak stated the perimeters agreed on Friday to ascertain subcommittees that will assist maintain the momentum of the rising relations.
The commerce quantity between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia skilled an extended, steep fall, pushed primarily by casual embargoes on Turkish items after ties had been ruptured following the homicide of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 on the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate.
In an indication of mending ties, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Saudi Arabia in April 2022, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) traveled to Türkiye in June of the identical 12 months.
In the second journey for the reason that rapprochement, Erdoğan flew to Jeddah in mid-July final 12 months as a part of a three-country tour of the Gulf that additionally included Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Olpak emphasised the significance of addressing losses incurred between the 2 international locations and exploring avenues for quicker restoration. He careworn the potential in sectors similar to building in Saudi Arabia and the necessity to assist it by funding.
2030 imaginative and prescient potential
Referring to Saudi Arabia’s 2030 imaginative and prescient, Olpak highlighted the huge potential and the openness of Saudi authorities towards Turkish companies, emphasizing the necessity for additional collaboration.
The plan envisages tons of of billions in investments to assist wean the economic system off hydrocarbon revenue and construct massive infrastructure tasks to develop sectors similar to tourism and business.
Al Falih said that Saudi Arabia was nicely on observe with the 2030 imaginative and prescient initiated in 2016, and highlighted Türkiye’s possession of many assets wanted by the dominion, stressing the numerous potential for cooperation.
“There are substantial opportunities for collaboration between the private sectors of Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. Besides our two countries, there are opportunities present beyond the Middle East,” he stated.
“Due to serious conflict situations in the region, there has been a delay in prosperity and development. As the two largest economies in the Middle East, we have opportunities for aid and reconstruction throughout the entire region.”
Moreover, Al Falih additionally talked about the potential for joint ventures in Africa.
Al Khateeb echoed Al Falih’s sentiments, stating that tourism is an important element of the 2030 imaginative and prescient. He acknowledged and careworn the shift towards diversifying sectors similar to tourism, mining and sports activities.
Al Khateeb famous Saudi Arabia’s facilitation of entry by digital visa purposes and emphasised the importance of the quick flight length between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia for tourism.
His Turkish counterpart, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, emphasised the leap within the variety of guests from Saudi Arabia, which reached round 800,000 in 2023, up from some 500,000 in 2022.
Ersoy expressed hope for a projected 1 million Saudi vacationers this 12 months.
“Thanks to the electronic visa system implemented for Turkish citizens, visits from Türkiye to Saudi Arabia have increased. We have waived visa requirements for our Saudi guests, which we believe will further boost visitor numbers,” the minister famous.
Al Khateeb additionally praised the standard of infrastructure, notably citing the Medina Airport constructed by Turkish buyers as exemplary and confidence-inspiring.
“Investing in Türkiye presents a golden opportunity. Saudi Arabia is allocating billions of dollars for the 2030 vision. When it comes to roads, transportation, airports, trains and railways, I don’t think we can find a better country than Türkiye,” he famous.
“I don’t believe there’s another country that will invest as much in the next 10 or 20 years. Saudi contractors have reached their capacity, and we need more capacity.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
