Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Speaking at the Turkey-UK Free Trade Agreement Information Meeting held online, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that bilateral economic, trade and political relations with the United Kingdom have always been very important for Turkey.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that throughout history, the United Kingdom has been an important partner for Turkey in relations with the European Union (EU) and third countries, especially in the western world.

“Therefore, we have closely followed the process of the United Kingdom leaving the EU, known as Brexit. Because the consequences of Brexit are of great interest to our country. In short, Turkey has lost an important ally within the EU. Because in the development of Turkey's relations with the EU, the United Kingdom has always made guiding contributions. Once again, I would like to thank the British governments for their contribution to Turkey-EU relations.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that despite the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the whole world, the trade volume between Turkey and the United Kingdom was 16.4 billion dollars in 2020, and That Turkey exported $11 billion and imported $5.4 billion, giving a foreign trade surplus as in previous years.

Pointing out that these figures were achieved with the opportunities provided by the EU and the Customs Union, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “With Brexit, the United Kingdom has been excluded from the Customs Union. A new agreement was needed to regulate trade relations between Turkey and the United Kingdom. On behalf of the business community, I would like to thank our Minister of Commerce and the UK Ambassador to Ankara. Trade relations with the signed FTA have not been interrupted. The trade of industrial products will continue smoothly. We also welcome the participation of new areas such as agricultural products, the service sector, public procurement and investment in the FTA. I hope that a new generation free trade agreement will be signed shortly.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu also forwarded the demands of business people in the TRNC to increase their trade with the United Kingdom to Dominick Chilcott, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Ankara.