Turkish exporters and trade officials are ramping up efforts to increase commercial relations with the targeted markets. The latest initiative of these efforts has been the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with Mexico.
A delegation, composed of representatives from the Ministry of Trade, the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) and the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TİM), paid an official visit to Mexico.
According to the Ministry of Trade, the delegation, which was formed with the participation of businesspeople and led by Deputy Minister of Trade Gonca Yılmaz Batur, held various meetings in Mexico City in order to address and improve relations between the two countries in the fields of trade, economy and investments, to identify new opportunities for cooperation and to boost contacts between the private sectors of both countries.
In this context, Deputy Minister Batur held a bilateral official meeting with her Mexican counterpart, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade Luz Maria de la Mora.
Deputy Minister Batur explained the country's desire for the immediate resumption of FTA talks between the two countries, among other issues. The deputy ministers agreed to hold talks at the level of technical delegations in September to resume FTA negotiations, which were held for the 7th time in 2016 in the last round.
They also agreed on taking steps for holding the following meeting by the Joint Economic Commission this year which addresses a range of topics between Turkey and Mexico, including trade, energy, tourism, transportation, agriculture and investments.
Following the official meeting, the two deputy ministers met with Turkish and Mexican business representatives and discussed the trade and investment agenda between the two countries.
Again under the leadership of Batur as part of the visit, Turkish and Mexican businesspeople convened to exchange information on the trade and investment environment of the two countries and companies held business-to-business (B2B) meetings at the Turkey-Mexico Trade and Investment Seminar which was jointly organized by DEİK and TİM's partner organizations, COMCE and BBVA Bancomer. The seminar was attended by Turkey's Ambassador to Mexico Timur Söylemez and Mexico's Ambassador to Ankara.
Bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Mexico amounted to $1.23 billion in 2018, according to the data obtained from Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). Turkey's exports to Mexico stood at $600 million, while its imports from the country reached $634 million last year. In the first six months of 2019, bilateral trade volume was $563 million. Turkish exports to the Central American country totaled $287 million while imports were recorded at $276 million. Mexico was set as a "target country" by the Ministry of Trade in the 2018-2019 period.