Türkiye expects its bilateral trade volume with Kosovo to reach $1 billion by the end of 2024, the country's trade minister said on Monday, highlighting the common historical, political and economic relations between the two countries as well as commercial cooperation.
"I believe that the positive momentum we have gained in our trade volume over the years will continue and we will reach the level of $1 billion by the end of 2024," Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said. He noted that this figure reached $785 million in 2023.
In his speech at the first Türkiye-Kosovo Business Forum held at the Foreign and Diplomatic Relations Board (DEIK) headquarters in Istanbul, Bolat said that Turkish firms’ investments in Kosovo reached 429 million euros ($465 million) as of 2023 and that currently, Türkiye is the sixth country that invested the most in Kosovo, according to statistics of the Central Bank of Kosovo.
On the other hand, emphasizing that they are pleased to see that important Turkish companies have investments in the fields of airport operation and electricity distribution in Kosovo, Bolat said, "Leading Turkish finance companies and banks and our leading institutions in the health sector are also operating in Kosovo."
"Our goal is to increase existing investments in the coming period," he noted.
"Turkish construction firms have so far successfully completed 30 projects worth $1.5 billion in Kosovo, and Turkish technical consultancy firms have completed 19 projects worth $9.3 million in total,” he said.
Moreover, he touched upon the 2030 Mediterranean Games, which are set to be held in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, expressing they were glad regarding the organization and said, "We are ready to cooperate with our Kosovar friends in the 2030 Mediterranean Games to be held in Pristina.”
Bolat said that the development of economic cooperation between the two countries would greatly contribute to their economies and the welfare of the region, and for that, he highlighted that he would sign a protocol for the Türkiye-Kosovo Joint Economic and Trade Committee with Kosovo’s minister of industry, entrepreneurship and trade, Rozeta Hajdari, in Ankara on Tuesday.
"We will create a fast system to enable concrete steps to be taken to improve economic and trade relations, as we have no doubt that our efforts will contribute to the prosperity of the two countries, and as an EU membership candidate, Kosovo is an important trade partner for Türkiye. Therefore, this protocol will yield fruitful cooperation in the future,” the minister said.
