Two significant international events opened in Istanbul – the ‘Turkmenistan-Turkey’ Trade Fair and the ‘F Istanbul’ food industry and technology exhibition. These events mark a new stage in strengthening economic ties between the two countries. This was reported by the IIC.

The opening ceremony was attended by Turkish Minister of Trade Omer Bolat, who noted the symbolic nature of holding exhibitions in this format and the high level of activity of the Turkmen delegation. He emphasised that Turkmenistan had been granted the status of guest of honour at the ‘F Istanbul’ exhibition. Both events include B2B business meetings aimed at expanding partnerships between Turkish and Turkmenistan entrepreneurs.

The Minister drew attention to the steady growth in trade between the countries. According to him, last year the volume of mutual trade exceeded $2.2 billion, which is 8.35% more than in the previous period. In the first six months of this year, growth already amounted to 26.5%. Omer Bolat expressed confidence that if this pace is maintained, bilateral trade will exceed $3 billion next year.

The parties confirmed their intention to achieve the ambitious goal set by the leaders of the two countries – to increase annual trade to $5 billion. The Minister also noted the active participation of Turkish construction companies in the implementation of infrastructure projects in Turkmenistan. Of the 12,600 international contracts worth a total of $540 billion, 1,100 projects worth $54 billion were completed in Turkmenistan.