Erdogan’s Pak-Turkey trade boost vision to become reality: envoy

ISLAMABAD: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s wish to deepen trade and economic ties with Pakistan is a reality in the making as both countries share a vision of regional growth, Eurasian nation’s envoy said on Wednesday.

“Keeping in view the level of bilateral friendship, the existing trade volume between the two nations is below par and needs to be improved,” Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul, ambassador of Turkey, said during a meeting with Saleem Mandviwalla, deputy chairman Senate at Parliament House.

“Both countries can achieve a lot through enhanced interactions and bilateral cooperation.” Yurdakul said that it was his first ambassadorial assignment to Pakistan and he was resolved to make all out efforts to contribute positively to strengthen trade ties.

Senator Saleem Mandviwalla observed that Pakistan values its friendly relations with Turkey and desires to further expand mutual ties in different sectors to bring business community into a close contact and strengthen the bond of friendship.

“There exists a great potential exists for increasing trade and investment between the two countries and both sides need to devise mechanisms for boosting economic cooperation for mutual benefit of the people of two countries,” Mandviwalla said.

He said that the brotherly nations share identical views on regional and international issues and should further expand business relations. Mandviwalla also emphasized the need for enhanced cooperation at parliamentary level through frequent exchanges.

“We can achieve a lot through frequent interactions at different levels for mutual benefit,” the deputy chairman of Senate said.

Pakistan’s exports to Turkey are decreasing unabated for the last seven years. They stood at around $756 million in since 2011. In 2016, the value of total exports nosedived to $237 million.

On the other hand imports from Turkey went up from $160 million to $260 million in five years. Currently, the trade volume stands at $497 million, which can be increased substantially, while the volume of Turkish investment in Pakistan stands at $900 million as of now.