Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on his two day visit to India and it marked summit level interactions in many fields. But the most significant one was perhaps on trade and business.
Speaking at the India-Turkey Business Summit in New Delhi, organised by FICCI, in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, CII and ASSOCHAM, President Erdogan said, “The volume of trade between Turkey and India stood at US$ 6.4 billion in 2016. This is way below the potential and not favourable for Turkey. Turkey’s exports to India were US$ 652 million and imports from India stood at US$ 5752 million. This imbalance in trade needs to be rectified”.
He also expressed his desire for a Free Trade Agreement and a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to bridge the deficit with India and asked Indian companies to invest more in Turkey.
The Turkish President also showed his eagerness to be a partner of India in its 100 smart cities project. At the same time, both the countries should
leverage the untapped potential in the sectors like renewable energy, nuclear energy and tourism. Tourism can also help in improving the economic status of the countries Speaking on the occasion, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, said, “India and Turkey are among the 20 largest economies of the world. Both the nations had shown remarkable
stability in recent years. As we strive to build stronger political ties, the time has come to take more aggressive efforts to deepen the economic
relations between both the nations through trade, FDI inflows and cooperation in a variety of projects. He also said that economic co-operation is becoming an important pillar of every bilateral relation.
PM Modi said, “The focus of this government is on creating a business-friendly climate in India. Today’s knowledge-based global economy is continuously opening new areas,” he added.
PM Modi also asked the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of both sides to engage pro-actively to give a fillip to two-way investments and trade. He also made a reference to the softer diplomacy areas such as tourism adding that the number of Indian tourists going to Turkey has increased in the last few years and Turkey has become a popular destination for the shooting for Hindi Cinema.
The 153-member Turkish business delegation, representing different business sectors was also present on the occasion for the mutual benefit of both the countries.
While addressing the gathering, Pankaj Patel, President, FICCI
and CMD, Zydus Cadila-Cadila Healthcare Ltd., stated that Turkey’s geo-strategic location and India’s rising economic stock in the region and globally, should and must be
ideally utilised by the businesses of both the countries for reaching their domestic markets and those of their neighboring countries.
Omer Cihad Vardan, DEiK President expressed confidence that trade relation between Turkey and India would grow rapidly and see a doubling of the trade volume soon.
Shobana Kamineni, President, CII and Executive Vice-Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd., in her remarks, said that Turkey can be India’s gateway to opportunities from energy connectivity with Central Asia to vibrant markets in the European Union. This kind of engagement will definitely warm up the relationship of India and Turkey.
In his closing remarks, Sandeep Jajodia, President, ASSOCHAM and CMD, Monnet Group thanked President Erdogan and Prime Minister Modi for providing a road-map for
furthering India-Turkey relationship.
The visit acquired added
significance as it commenced just after President Erdogon won the April 16 referendum in Turkey.
—Nishant Kr Azad
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