Turkey, Greece eye $7B bilateral trade volume

Turkish businesses are expecting an upcoming meeting on Sunday between Turkiye's president and Greece's prime minister have a positive impact on economic relations.

Greek premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to visit Turkiye on Sunday and hold a face-to-face meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with bilateral ties, current geopolitical developments, and the reflections of Russia's war on Ukraine at the top of the agenda.

Steps towards developing Turkiye-Greece economic relations, especially in the field of energy, will also be evaluated at the meeting.

With its new economic strategy, Turkiye has recently opened the door to foreign trade cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Armenia, marking a new era expected to have a positive impact on bilateral trade with these countries.

Levent Sadik Ahmet, the head of the Foreign Economic Relations Board's (DEIK) Turkiye-Greece Business Council said the meeting between Erdogan and Mitsotakis would be "very valuable" at this "critical time."

"Diplomatic relations between the two (countries) will increase both the courage and motivation of the business world," he added.

Ahmet also said they wanted the trade volume of the two countries, currently around $5 billion dollars, to quickly rise to $6-7 billion.

Pointing out that the products imported from Greece were mainly concentrated in petrochemicals and agriculture, Ahmet said that on the exports' side, there were products in many sectors from automotive to ready-made clothing, jewelry, machinery, cereals, and pulses.

According to data from the International Trade Center, the trade volume between two countries has fluctuated over the past decade.

Turkiye has had a trade surplus with Greece since 2019.

Their trade volume, which approached $5 billion in 2012, exceeded $6 billion in 2014 and registered at $5.3 billion in 2021.

Last year, Turkiye's exports to Greece amounted to $3.1 billion, while its imports reached $2.2 billion.

Among the sectors with the highest exports to Greece, chemicals and chemical products, steel, electric and electronics, automotive, and textiles stand out.

Approximately $7 billion of international direct investment was made by Greece in Turkiye in 2002-2021.

This corresponds to 3.9% of the total international direct investments made in the country during that period.

* Writing by Aysu Bicer