Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

​State Minister of Turkey Zafer Çağlayan, , Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Bahrain Minister of Foreign Affairs Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Bahrain Minister of Industry and Commerce Dr. Hassan bin Abdulla Fakhro and Bahrain Labour Minister Dr. Majeed Bin Mohsen Alalawi attended the working breakfast  hosted by the President of TOBB, M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu.   Hisarcıklıoğlu mentioned in the working breakfast opening speech that Bahrain is one of the lead actors and is playing a leading role in the region. In this context it is crucial to develop the economic relations with Bahrain.   Hisarcıklıoğlu drew the attention upon the point that Bahrain is one of the top strategic countries in the Gulf region and the free trade agreement between United States and Bahrain offers great opportunities to the Turkish business world.   “There are several opportunities for cooperation between both countries”   Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the development of trade and investment ties between both countries will give rise to great opportunities. Hisarciklioglu said, “There are several cooperation opportunities between the countries in various fields ranging from frozen food products to chemical industry, contracting to tourism and health services. Turkey is the world’s 16th largest and Europe’s 6th largest economy. Between the geographical area stretching from Italy to India, Turkey has the most advanced industry. The Turkish private sector is exporting 20 different range of products to 114 billion dollar worth to 210 countries.  94% of Turkish exports are composed of industrial products and 60% of this are being exported to European and American markets where the quality preference is a priority. 12 companies out of 500 countries in Europe and 24 companies out of 100 companies in the Islamic world are Turkish companies.   Turkish contracting companies have undertaken 170 billion dollar worth of projects in 80 countries in the contracting sector. In the World’s top 225 contracting companies, there are 23 Turkish companies. Turkish contractors rank the second in the world after China and are willing to extend more services to Bahrain.”   “The trade volume between the two countries is 145 million dollars”   Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that he is witnessing with appreciation the fast steps that Bahrain is taking on the way of becoming a global financial sector, and after the global crisis the Turkish banking system  made it through the financial crisis without any government help and is now  stronger than before. He also stated that in this area there are opportunities in sharing mutual experiences between both the countries.   Hisarciklioglu expressed that he believes present volume of bilateral trade, which is 145 billion dollars will increase between the two counties, saying “Through similar contracts the number of Bahraini companies in Turkey and the number of Turkish companies in Bahrain will increase.”   After the speech the President of TOBB, Hisarciklioglu, presented a gift to the Crown Prince of Bahrain.      Total trade volume with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is 1 trillion dollars.      The Crown Prince of Bahrain stated in his speech that Turkey has turned to the east and he supported this as well. Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain stated that Turkey as the world’s 16th largest economy is at an international level and the recent development and growth of Turkey is being closely watched by the world.   Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa explained that Bahrain has made a move to increase the level of growth and development several years ago and the aim of this step is to increase the revenue of Bahraini families in real terms by the end of the year 2030. In this context they have managed to increase the real income of the Bahraini families by 25%. However Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa stressed upon the point that in order to achieve full success in this undertaking Bahrain has to achieve full cooperation with the world economy and neighboring countries.   Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa pointed out that Turkey has the Industry to produce every type of product and said, “Every opportunity will be made available to increase the trade volume between Bahrain and Turkey.”   Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa said that Turkey has turned their horizons to the east and he supports this. He also indicated that the trade of volume between the GCC countries is 1 trillion dollars and this number would increase to 2 trillion dollars by 2020. He also drew the attention to the importance of conducting visits and cooperation between the countries. He concluded by saying that they were ready to provide every type of convenience in private sector that is the fundamental engine of any economy.