Turkey seeks to increase use of lira in foreign trade

By Ruslan Rehimov

BAKU, Azerbaijan

Turkey wants to increase the use of local currency to at least 10 percent in foreign trade in order to maintain the country’s financial safety, the Turkish economy minister said on Wednesday.

Speaking at meeting of economy ministers held by the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, Nihat Zeybekci said there was a clear need to enhance trade relations among Turkic Council members.

“We set the 10 percent level as a target of share of Turkish liras in our total foreign trade volume,” said Zeybekci.

“This is a serious issue in terms of our financial safety. We will close this year without any loss. The country’s exports will rise in 2017 because we have started export-support programs,” he added.

Zeybekci also said Turkey was one of the top 20 world economies and the country’s largest export market remained the European Union.

Pointing out the total population of the Turkic-speaking states is around 110 million, Zeybekci lamented that trade volume between Turkey and Turkic Council members was not even $5 billion.

“Turkey’s total foreign trade volume is around $430 billion, but the share of trade between Turkey and Turkic-speaking countries is only one percent,” said Zeybekci.

Zeybekci noted that good political relations among council members should also be maintained in other areas, describing the people of Turkic-speaking states as “children of the same nation”.

The historic Silk Road cannot be imagined without the Turkic-speaking states, Zeybekci added, pointing to the rich natural resources of the member countries and the huge energy demand of Europe.

During his Baku visit, Turkey’s economy minister also met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to talk about opportunities in the two countries’ bilateral trade.

*Muhammed Ali Gurtas contributed to this report