The Diplomat
Bilateral economic relations yesterday marked the second and last day of the official visit to Turkey of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, who conveyed to the Government of this country the interest of Spanish companies in participating in sectors such as railways or the banker.
“Productive meeting with the Minister of Finance of Turkey, Mehmet Simsek, with whom I have discussed the important economic links between our two countries: more than 700 Spanish companies in the country, and trade flows of more than 18,000 million euros,” declared Albares. through its official account on the social network X. “Turkey is a strategic partner for Spain,” he added.
During his meeting with Simsek, as he declared to the Spanish journalists who accompanied him, Albares conveyed the interest of Spanish companies in participating in sectors such as railways or banking. For his part, the Turkish minister informed him of the Government’s reform plans to stabilize the country’s economy.
“Our economic presence in Türkiye is very important; “It is one of our main commercial partners,” declared Albares, quoted by the Efe agency. “There are almost 700 Spanish companies present, in the banking sector, in the infrastructure sector, in tourism, in agriculture. We are talking about bilateral trade of almost 19 billion euros and it is a trade that is growing from year to year,” he added.
Apart from the 700 Spanish companies in Turkey, more than a hundred Turkish companies operate in Spain. Spain is the fifth largest exporter to Turkey and the sixth largest importer and in 2022 an increase in bilateral trade figures was recorded. Spanish exports to Turkey reached 6,777 million euros, 23% more than in 2021, and imports from Turkey reached 9,989 million, with an increase of 20%.
Regarding investment, Spain’s investment stock in Turkey in 2021 stood at 3,913 million euros and was concentrated in the banking services, textile industry, insurance and automotive auxiliary industry sectors. For its part, Turkey’s investment stock in Spain was 99 million, especially in wholesale trade, real estate activities, construction and consulting.
Review of the official visit
Albares’ trip to Türkiye began on Wednesday. On the first day, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was in favor of “strengthening the dialogue between Turkey and the EU” and assured, during the joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, that Spain supports the accession process of Turkey to the EU. For his part, Fidan assured at the press conference that “Spain has been one of the countries that has sincerely supported our accession process to the European Union from the beginning.”
Likewise, the two ministers addressed the situation in the Gaza Strip and Albares warned, in this regard, that “if (Israel’s) military operations were extended to Rafah, we would be facing a true humanitarian catastrophe and we must all do everything we can.” in our hands so that this does not happen.” For his part, Hakan Fidan declared that “Spain is one of the countries of the European Union that, from day one, has adopted a principled position on Gaza and has been on the side of the Palestinian people” and assured that Turkey fully supports the steps adopted by Spain in this regard, such as the proposal of a peace conference and the future recognition of the Palestinian State.
The trip to Turkey, according to Foreign Ministry, represented the “fourth stage” of the minister’s tour of Middle Eastern countries since the conflict in Gaza began. The first leg took place in the last week of January in Lebanon and Iraq, the second tour took place in early February in three Gulf countries, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and the third took place last week in Jordan and Egypt.
