The intra-trade between the members of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) posted a significant rise in recent years, jumping from $33 billion (TL 999.25 billion) in 2022 to $42 billion in 2023, but boosting it even more would benefit all the countries involved, the Turkish trade minister said on Tuesday.
Speaking in Istanbul at the first meeting of the Council of Competition Authorities of Member and Observer States of the OTS, Ömer Bolat said the current trade between OTS members is a small slice of member countries' international trade.
"If we unite our power more and increase our solidarity, we will be more influential in the world arena. Our unity is our strength. We must not forget this principle," he urged.
"As the OTS, our young population of 170 million, our total national income of $1.5 trillion, our rich natural resources and our presence on the world's most important trade route, which we call the Middle Corridor, are great opportunities for us to further develop our trade and economic cooperation," he noted.
He also recalled the Turkic World Vision 2040, which was approved by the Heads of State at the summit of OTS in 2021, when the organization's name was changed from the former Turkic Council to the Organization of Turkic States.
As stated in the Turkic World-2040 Vision Document, OTS aims to strengthen the environment of mutual trust in the Turkic world, strengthen political solidarity, accelerate economic and technical cooperation opportunities, provide healthy structures to human relations and ensure the broadest possible use of the historical and cultural accumulations of the Turkic world.
The minister also expressed satisfaction with the significant interest and demand from member countries for Türkiye's first domestically produced electric vehicle, Togg.
Noting that the Competition Council of Turkic States has now been officially established, Bolat stated that this council will undertake a very important mission in terms of sharing information and experience in economic ties, trade relations, production and following international developments.
"Our Competition Authority carries out important activities in developing countries in terms of spreading the culture and understanding of competition and establishing institutionalization," he added.
"The Trade Ministry is following and supporting all these developments with appreciation."
OTS, whose founding name was Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking Countries (in short, Turkic Council), was established on Oct. 3, 2009 with the Nakhichevan Agreement signed by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Türkiye.
Uzbekistan attained membership in the organization in 2019, while EU member Hungary, Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have observer status.