Türkiye looking at $5B trade volume with Georgia: Trade minister

The Turkish trade minister said Wednesday that Türkiye and Georgia want to achieve a $5 billion bilateral trade volume, and the current volume exceeded $3.5 billion.

Omer Bolat, along with Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Mariam Kvrivishvili, opened the Türkiye-Georgia Business Forum in Tbilisi in cooperation with the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) and the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Bolat said Georgia has implemented important economic reforms in recent years. “These achievements of Georgia also make us, as Türkiye, happy and give hope for our common future,” he said.

Stating that Türkiye supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia, Bolat emphasized that prosperity in friendly and brotherly countries is important for his country.

He said economic relations between the two countries are progressing perfectly. “As a result of the Free Trade Agreement put into effect by the two countries in 2008, our mutual trade has exceeded $3.5 billion annually,” he said.

Stating that Turkish businesspeople are active in Georgia, Bolat said, “Our contractors have undertaken 304 projects worth $5.6 billion in Georgia so far.”

Bolat said Georgia is a strategic transit country on the Trans-Caspian route and serves as a bridge between Europe and Central Asia, together with Türkiye.

Stating that cooperation provided in the fields of railway data exchange and facilitation of border crossings with the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) Railway Data Exchange Agreement signed in 2022 directly affects the performance of the Middle Corridor, Bolat said, “Türkiye-Georgia coordination is of great importance for the sustainability of the Middle Corridor.”

Kvrivishvili said Türkiye is Georgia's strategic partner. “Georgia and Türkiye are not only neighbors, but also two partner countries that cooperate intensively,” she said.

Kvirivishvili noted that there are strong trade and economic relations between the two countries and said, “This business forum is a clear example of the close cooperation between the two countries.”

Stating that Tbilisi has taken steps to attract foreign investments to Georgia, Kvirivishvili said the Georgian economy grew by an average of 9.7% annually from 2021 - 2024.​​​​​​​