TRIPOLI / ISTANBUL

Türkiye is continuing to be a “strategic trading partner” and “one of the most important exporters” to Libya, the Libyan Prime Minister’s Initiatives and Strategic Projects committee chair told Anadolu.

Mustafa Al-Manea, speaking on the sidelines of the Libya Energy and Economic Summit, stated that the Libyan government is working to increase its trade volume with Türkiye through various partnerships.

“The impact of Türkiye on the Libyan market is of great importance, and we have partnerships in development and infrastructure projects,” he said.

Al-Manea stated that Turkish firms renewed their contracts in Libya and signed new ones for infrastructure projects, airports, roads, and others.

“Türkiye has been and will continue to be a strategic, economic, and commercial partner for Libya,” he said.

The two countries agreed on developing economic partnerships and addressing some issues that have been pending for the past two decades at the 22nd Türkiye–Libya Joint Economic Committee (JEC) meeting on Jan. 24, chaired by Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and Libyan Transport Minister Mohamed Al-Shahoubi.

Al-Manea stated that Libya launched a tender for oil and natural gas exploration in Nov. 2025 after a 17-year hiatus, and Turkish firms have been the most to apply so far.

“We are waiting on the results of the public tender, which will come out within four weeks,” he noted.

He declared that Libya is no longer a high-risk market but rather one that is conducive to investment, with real opportunities to form partnerships in a variety of products and sectors.

Al-Manea stated that Libya has always been open to global firms, and Türkiye previously signed oil and natural gas deals with the country.

“Our interests and goals in the oil sectors, especially with Turkish firms, are well-suited to make partnerships,” he said.

Libya aims to boost its oil production to 1.6 million barrels per day in the short term and 2 million barrels per day in the medium term.

“We aim to realize the desired energy diversity via renewable and traditional energy, which is an opportunity for firms investing in the renewable energy sector in Türkiye,” he noted.

“Libya is proudly open to cooperation with its partners in Türkiye, and we are proud of our cooperation with Türkiye, with whom we have maintained a long partnership—Turkish firms and contractors implement many projects each day, and we are very proud of these partnerships,” he added.