ISTANBUL, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye expected to raise its trade volume with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to 25 billion U.S. dollars within five years, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday.
President Erdoğan made the remarks in Istanbul while addressing the signing ceremony of the Türkiye-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which was held in the UAE's capital Abu Dhabi under the witness of President Erdoğan and his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan via video link.
"This agreement is the beginning of a new phase in our economic and trade cooperation," President Erdoğan said, adding that this year marked the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
"Thanks to the agreement, barriers to trade in goods and services will be removed, and the activities of our investors and entrepreneurs, including SMEs, will be facilitated," he said.
"With the comprehensive nature of this agreement, we expect to raise our trade volume to 25 billion dollars within five years," he noted.
President Erdoğan also thanked the UAE for its aid in the aftermath of devastating earthquakes hitting southern Türkiye in early February.
In April last year, Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet Muş said trade volume between the two countries reached 8 billion U.S. dollars in 2021.