Erdogan urges more trade with Kuwait

KUWAIT, April 28 (KUNA) -- Turkey seeks to increase the size of its trade with Kuwait to top one billion dollars in 2016, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a speech at a joint meeting of Turkish and Kuwaiti businesspeople at Bayan Palace on Tuesday.
He said that bilateral trade between his country and Kuwait came to only USD 569 million in 2014, hoping this figure would be augmented substantially when a free trade zone between Turkey and the GCC was established.
Noting that GCC investments in Turkey were about two billion dollars, and decrying its low level currently, he touted the fact that his country's economy has been posting an incremental upswing for the past 12 year period including the period of the global economic downturn, with an average annual growth rate of about 3 percent.
There has been successful monitoring of the nation's economy during the past 12 year period as new large-scale projects have been launched including a new international airport accommodating 150 million passengers, a third bridge over the Bosporus, and an underwater tunnel, said President Erdogan.
He urged the Kuwaiti business community to invest in Turkey, stressing the notion that "Kuwait is the gateway to the Gulf region and we mean to bolster our partnership with it." He said that his country offered great concessions facilitating real estate ownership, noting that Kuwait was among the vanguard of nations investing in real estate in Turkey.
He emphasized that Turkey had immense investment opportunities for Kuwaitis to consider in the sectors of agriculture, health, and industry.
Moreover, he said "we are watching closely the infrastructure and development projects in Kuwait" adding that Kuwait was well on its way to becoming a commercial and financial hub in the region.
He further said that Kuwait's five year development plan offered attractive investment opportunities for Turkish investors in the field of construction, urging his countrymen to exchange expertise with their Kuwaiti counterparts in that vital field.
President Erdogan arrived here yesterday on an official two-day visit which is his first since he became President of Turkey. (end) mfs.ajs