Saudi investments in Turkey reach $6bn

The volume of Saudi investments in Turkey has reached $6 billion mainly in the real estate sector, a Turkish official revealed yesterday.

A representative of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT) in Saudi Arabia, Mustafa Kirksour told the Anadolu Agency that trade deals between Turkey and Saudi Arabia amounted to $8 billion in 2015.

He added that Ankara wants to increase Saudi investment to $25 billion and trade exchange to $20 billion by 2023.

According to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics, trade exchange between the kingdom and Turkey reached $6.5 billion in 2014 and increased by 23 per cent in 2015.

Turkish Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Yunus Demirer stressed his country’s keenness to remove any obstacles facing investors, and called on Saudi businessmen to communicate with him directly if they face difficulties.

Kirksour explained that there are some 744 Saudi companies that invest in Turkey, including 150 that operate in the real estate sector. He added that investors in Turkey can export their businesses to more than 37 countries around the world including the European Union.

A report by Standard & Poor’s Rating Services earlier this month said Turkey’s economy is expected to grow by 3.4 per cent this year, raising the country’s classification from negative to stable.