Türkiye and Qatar have set a $5 billion (TL144.64 billion) bilateral trade volume target for the medium term, a senior official said on Tuesday.
During President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's meeting this week with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, they said once the countries' Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) enters into force, they aim for bilateral trade to reach $5 billion in the medium term, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
During Erdoğan's second visit to Qatar this year, Türkiye's commitment to enhancing partnership with Qatar was shown, he added. The president earlier in July conducted a three-day Gulf tour visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Türkiye and Qatar on Monday signed 12 cooperation agreements in various fields and the joint declaration of the 9th meeting of the Türkiye-Qatar Supreme Strategic Committee.
After a face-to-face meeting at Lusail Palace, Erdoğan and Al Thani chaired the Türkiye-Qatar High Strategic Committee meeting.
Following the meeting, the signing ceremony of the agreements between the two countries took place in the presence of Erdoğan and Al Thani.
Among the agreements signed, a bilateral military framework deal was signed by Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and Halid bin Mohammad Al Atiyyah, Qatar's deputy prime minister and defense minister.
Pacts for cooperation on science, industry and technology were signed by Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır and Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Qatar Foundation Hamad bin Khalifa University.
Furthermore, a pact on bilateral cooperation on information and communication technology was signed by Kacır and Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai, Qatar's communications and information technologies minister.
The pact on cooperation between the countries' treasury and finance ministries was signed by Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and Qatari Finance Minister Ali bin Ahmad Al Kuwari.
At the same time, a pact on cooperation in investment promotion was signed by Turkish Presidential Investment Office head Ahmet Burak Dağlıoğlu and Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry head Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani.
Finally, Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM) head Mustafa Gültepe and Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation on exports.
As part of his visit to the Gulf country, Erdoğan visited on Monday Expo 2023, which opened in the Qatari capital on Oct. 2 and will run until March 28, 2024.
"The fact that there were approximately 80 participating countries here naturally added additional power to the Expo fair," Erdoğan said.
"Our wish is that in the future, there will be much more participation, and trade in the world will merge," he said.
He also hailed the pavilions of Türkiye, Qatar and Saudi Arabia while wishing the organizers further success.
Erdoğan is also due to attend the 44th summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Tuesday in Doha.
The Qatari Ambassador to Ankara Sheikh Mohammed bin Nasser bin Jassim Al Thani in a recent interview with Anadolu Agency (AA) appreciated the high level of bilateral relations, which he attributed to the "common political will that has taken root under the wise leadership" of two country leaders.
He noted that the trade volume between the two countries increased by 17% in 2022 to a value of $2.2 billion in comparison to $1.8 billion in 2021, adding that several Qatari companies are active in Türkiye with their capital totaling $33.2 billion.