20.10.2022 Ankara
Speaking at the Türkiye-Czechia Business Forum, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu urged the Czech Republic to increase the quota of transit documents.
Emphasizing that
Czechia is an extremely important transit country in transportation by road
from Türkiye to Western European countries and especially to Germany,
Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “While our transporters do not have problems in Slovakia
crossings, the limited number of transit documents obtained from the Czech
Republic is insufficient for our exports to Western Europe. The quota of Czech
transit documents should be increased to a minimum of 25,000 units to meet the
needs of our transportation sector. We expect the support of the Minister and
the delegation in this regard.”
Türkiye-Czech Republic
Business Forum was held at TOBB Twin Towers. TOBB President M. Rifat
Hisarcıklıoğlu, Czech Chamber of Commerce President Vladimir Dlouhy, Czech
Republic Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela and Trade Minister Mehmet
Muş made the opening speeches of the forum.
- Hisarcıklıoğlu's
invitation to Czech companies
TOBB President
Hisarcıklıoğlu, while expressing his desire to further expand trade relations
with the Czech Republic in his speech here, said, “Our bilateral trade volume
reached approximately 4.4 billion dollars in 2021. We can easily increase this
figure to 5 billion dollars in a very short time. Czech investments in Türkiye
are close to 700 million dollars. We are waiting for Czech companies to come to
our country to increase this even more.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that they are ready to work together to attract more Turkish investors to the
Czechia, which has the best business and investment environment in Central
Europe, and informed that Turkish contractors have undertaken projects worth $
23.9 billion in 67 countries in 2021. Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that these
projects include power plants, highways, tunnels and bridges and said that they
are ready to take part in infrastructure projects in the Czech Republic.
Stating that Türkiye
has established the largest industrial production capacity between Italy and
China, the TOBB President said: “Türkiye is an entrepreneurial country that
exports the largest industrial products in this region. Türkiye has become the
main supplier of Europe in many sectors, especially in automotive, white goods
and ready-to-wear. Currently, apart from itself, Türkiye is the country where
the EU imports the most automobiles. Our country offers extremely attractive
opportunities for investments and investors. The number of international
companies, which was 6,000 in 2002, is now over 75,000. In addition to the
customs union with the EU, with the free trade agreements we have made with
many countries, a population of about 1 billion is reached without customs.
Despite all these
positive developments, I would like to mention the issues that make trade and
business relations of Turkish businesspeople with the European Union countries
difficult. The first is the difficulties experienced by our Turkish citizens,
especially those who want to engage in commercial activities, in the EU visa
application process.
The second is the issue
of modernization of the Customs Union. We need your support in this regard.
We want the
modernization negotiations of the customs union to be started as soon as
possible.
We are considering the
Customs Union together with the green deal. Both will create a positive agenda
in Türkiye-EU relations.”
- Trade Minister Muş
calls for joint investment in the Czech Republic
In his speech, Trade
Minister Mehmet Muş stated that they believe that Türkiye and the Czech
Republic can make joint investments in the two countries with their mutually
advantageous logistics locations, skilled labor force and suitable investment
environments, and said, “We are ready to pave the way for our investors and
businessmen and to provide all kinds of support for the development of economic
relations between the two countries. In this sense, our door will be open to
our Czech friends and interlocutors in every cooperation to be established.”
Muş continued his words
as follows: “In 2021, our bilateral trade volume amounted to 4.3 billion
dollars, which is the highest trade volume recorded to date. With this
acceleration of increase in our trade, we believe that we can reach 5 billion
dollars at the end of this year. This momentum we have achieved in our
bilateral trade and investment relations clearly reveals two facts. First, amid
the uncertainty caused by the pandemic and geopolitical risks, Czech companies
have maintained confidence in the quality and competitiveness of Turkish firms.
Secondly, our country has once again strengthened its position as one of the
reliable ports in trade.”
Minister Muş, stating
that important collaborations have emerged in the investment relations of the
two countries in the recent period, said, “Our companies continue their
investments mutually in many sectors such as energy, automotive and logistics.
As you know, similar to the performance of our country in the last 20 years in
the field of investment, the Czech Republic has also been an important
destination in the field of investments. It is also noteworthy that with this
performance, the Czech Republic has become one of the countries that attract
the most foreign capital per capita in the EU. In this respect, we believe that
our countries will be able to make joint investments in the two countries with
their mutually advantageous logistics locations, skilled labor force and
suitable investment environments.”
- Speeches by Sikela
and Dlouhy
Czech Minister of
Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela said that Türkiye is one of the most important
trade partners of their country. Stating that the bilateral trade volume is
developing in 2022 as well as in 2021, Sikela stated that he is in Türkiye to
further develop relations.
Sikela also said he
believes the visit will contribute to the development of trade and economic
relations between the two countries.
Czech Chamber of
Commerce President Vladimir Dlouhy stated that they will meet with various companies
in İstanbul tomorrow and said: “Türkiye is a country that we have focused on a
lot in recent years. Business people in Türkiye have a good reputation because
of their business habits and hard work. These characteristics are the result of
Türkiye's success in developing modern technologies and modern industry in
recent years. We have much to learn from your dynamism. We have a lot to learn
by looking at how you develop your economy. We are looking for answers on how
we can improve our cooperation not only in energy and infrastructure, but also
in other areas.”
Pointing out that
Türkiye is an increasingly powerful country, Dlouhy added that they are
striving to solve the problem in the fields of visa and road transport.
- Protocol on
cooperation in the nuclear field from ASO
Following Minister
Muş's speech, the cooperation agreement between Ankara Chamber of Industry and
Czech Energy Industry Partnership was signed by ASO President Nurettin Özdebir
and Czech Energy Industry Association President Milan Simonovsky in the
presence of Trade Minister Mehmet Muş, Czech Minister of Industry and Trade
Jozef Sikela and TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu.