Turkic states agree on enhancing instruments to boost trade, co-op
Trade Minister Ömer Bolat stated yesterday that ministers of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) have agreed on implementing new-generation instruments to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between the states.
Speaking at the closing of the 12th meeting of ministers in charge of economy and trade of the Organization of Turkic States, Bolat said: “Today, as the OTS, we have once again confirmed the organization’s strong potential with the vision it has put forth and the alternatives it has produced.”
“We have decided to continue our efforts to strengthen this organization as one of the leading organizations of the 21st century in the field of trade and economy by strengthening the foundation laid by our presidents with new projects in the field of trade and economy,” he said.
Recalling that they took important steps to remove obstacles to trade with the ‘International Freight Transport Agreement’ signed last year, ‘Simplified Customs Corridor Agreement’ and ‘Trade Facilitation Strategic Document,’ the minister detailed the scope of initiatives for the upcoming period.
“As a result of today’s ministerial meeting, we have agreed to implement new-generation instruments that will strengthen economic and trade cooperation among our countries, such as the signing of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the TURANSEZ Special Economic Zone (a special economic zone in Turkistan) in the upcoming period,” he said.
“Considering the increasing importance of services trade and investments in the 21st century, we are evaluating the possibilities of establishing a ‘Service Trade and Investment Free Trade Agreement’ within the members of the OTS, and we are working on it,” the minister noted.
“Today, we have expressed our intention to start negotiations as soon as possible for this agreement.”
Noting that the member countries of the organization had approximately $33 billion in exports between themselves in 2022, Bolat said that this figure “corresponds to 6% of our countries’ total exports to the world.”
“Our goal is to fully realize the commercial potential our region offers and to raise the share of intra-regional exports within the member countries’ total exports to at least 10% in the coming period,” he said.
The OTS, formerly known as the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, is an inter-state bloc with the primary objective of encouraging comprehensive cooperation among Turkic states.
It has four founding members: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Türkiye. Uzbekistan joined as a full member during the seventh annual summit in Baku in 2019.
Hungary was granted observer status in 2018, following Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) became the latest observer member last year.