Turkish envoy: Turkiye-Malaysia bilateral trade to double with latest FTA protocol
28 Jul 2023
Turkiye is Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner, largest export destination, and sixth-largest import destination from the West Asian region.
Turkiye-Malaysia bilateral trade has been on an increasing trend and is expected to double in the coming years following the inclusion of additional protocols in their Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Ambassador of the Republic of Turkiye to Malaysia Emir Salim Yuksel said bilateral relations that are already well established could be improved further and there is a huge untapped potential in trade and investment between the two nations.
“We have recently expanded the scope of the FTA with an additional protocol. Now the FTA includes trade in services and e-commerce, as well as in investments.
“Last year, the bilateral trade approached US$5 billion (US$1=RM4.54). I am confident that this figure will double down in the coming years,“ he said in a keynote address at “Türkiye : Your Resilient Investment Partner” reception, held at the Turkish Ambassador’s Residence here, on Thursday.
The reception, attended by 150 guests, was hosted in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic. At the event, Yuksel shared the country’s aspiration to be among the top 10 economies in the world within a decade.
Yuksel said Turkiye will continue to be the common ground for investment and as a resilient partner in the next century.
“There is still huge, untapped potential. Therefore, I would like to take the opportunity to invite you to go and invest in Turkiye.
“We offer a huge, stable market of 85 million consumers inside our borders. Plus, having completed Customs Union with the European Union (EU) decades ago, your investment in Turkiye will have free access to the EU market,“ said Yuksel.
Meanwhile, speaking to Bernama on the sidelines of the reception, investment office president A. Burak Daðlýoðlu said Turkiye offers abundant opportunities in a wide variety of sectors in which it has a competitive edge such as strategic location, liberal investment climate and large domestic and regional markets.
Among the sectoral opportunities highlighted by Burak are agrifood, energy, healthcare technology startups and in particular finance, thanks to the recently-launched Istanbul Financial Centre project.
Turkiye is Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner, largest export destination, and sixth-largest import destination from the West Asian region.
In 2022, Malaysia’s total trade with Turkiye rose by 12.6 per cent to RM20.25 billion (US$4.62 billion) from RM17 billion (US$4.10 billion) in 2021.
Source: Bernama
