Minister of Commerce Bolat stated that the Turkiye-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement will come into force in the coming months and said, “In a few months, we will go to Ukraine together with Turkish contractors and hold the first meeting of the Turkiye-Ukraine task force in Ukraine.”
The Reconstruction of Ukraine Forum is being held in Istanbul with the participation of Trade Minister Omer Bolat, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Oleksandr Kubrakov and many representatives from the two countries.
In his speech at the opening of the event, Minister Bolat said, “When we look at the map, this painful war (Russia-Ukraine War) just to the north of us really saddens us. Unfortunately, just to the south of us, Israel’s brutal massacre-level attacks on innocent civilians and civilian settlements for nearly 4 months are also a source of sadness. There was also the Azerbaijan-Armenia war in our east. As the Republic of Turkiye, we are making all our efforts to establish good relations with all our neighbors on the basis of friendship and peace in this sensitive geography.”
Bolat said:
“Together with our entire business world, we aim to continue Turkiye’s international economic relations with friendly and neighboring countries and with the understanding of developing together and strengthening together in the international arena. We have made great efforts to end the war and host peace talks.
Even though there will be a slight decline in 2023, our bilateral trade is close to $7.5 billion. The Free Trade Agreement signed by the two countries in 2022 is of great importance. We determined a road map with Mr. Kubrakov in our official bilateral meetings on this issue. Hopefully, the Turkiye-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement will come into force in the coming months after the official approval procedures of both countries are completed.”
WE COMPLETED 12 THOUSAND 71 PROJECTS IN 135 COUNTRIES
Turkish contracting sector, which has successfully completed approximately 12 thousand 71 projects in all kinds of difficult conditions, including war and natural disasters, in 135 countries of the world, is ready to supply and provide all its experience, infrastructure, knowledge and relevant workforce talent in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Hopefully, we will go to Ukraine with Turkish contractors in the next few months and hold the first meeting of the Turkiye-Ukraine task force in Ukraine as the guest of Mr. Kubrakov.
TURKISH CONTRACTORS ARE SECOND IN THE WORLD
“The Turkish contracting sector ranks second after China with 40 large contracting companies among the top 250 companies in the world. We have a 4.5% share in the world contracting industry. Turkish contractors have successfully completed more than 300 projects in Ukraine to date. The total value of these projects is $9 billion 700 million. Even under war conditions, they have undertaken and completed 70 projects worth $1 billion for infrastructure works in many areas requested by Ukraine.”
TURKIYE’S NATIONAL SATELLITE WILL BE LAUNCHED INTO SPACE IN JUNE
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu said the following in his speech at the forum:
“We have satellites in space. We will increase our power there by sending our own national and local satellite to America in 2024 and launching it into space in June.”
Source: Patronlardunyasi / Prepared by Irem Yildiz