PETALING JAYA, Bernama: Malaysia and Turkey are working on widening the trade relationship in areas such as defence, technology, food and services, as well as electronics, with the aim of boosting bilateral trade to US$5 billion (RM20.8 billion) in the next five years from the current US$2.38 billion.
Turkish Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Merve Kavakci said his country was looking forward to the next meeting between Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York later this month.
“We are also hoping for a return visit by president Erdogan to Malaysia to seal some deals and the defence sector is not the only area of collaboration we are looking at.
“Turkey and Malaysia can look forward to working together in the area of technological development to provide employment opportunities for the people of both countries, as well as food and services and electronics,” she told reporters during the “Trade Talk session with Republic of Turkey”, organised by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute here today.
Kavakci said both countries can join hands to see each other as a hub for their different regions, with Turkey being a gateway for the continents of Asia and Europe, as well as Africa.
Malaysia, she noted, would be Turkey’s gateway to the east, Far East and the other Asean countries, which are home to 650 million people.
“We want to enter the Asean market for example, via collaborations in the automotive, electronics, food and finance sectors. We find that Malaysia is the hub for halal food production and Islamic finance and look forward to learning from it,” she said.
Asked if the collaboration would involve Malaysia purchasing new Turkish-made jets, she said: “We are looking at incentives or a win-win situation from technological products to the transfer of technology and jobs creation.”
Turkey also plans to look into barter trade with Malaysia to help reduce its palm oil inventory and also through the purchase of other commodities.
Meanwhile, themed, “Strengthening Trade Partnership and Investment Opportunities”, the half-day trade talk was a dialogue series intended to engage and promote bilateral trade and the investment relationship between Malaysia and other trading nations.
It was attended by entrepreneurs, strategic thinkers, corporate chief executive officers , ambassadors and emerging young leaders. Bernama
