Türkiye announced on Wednesday that it had agreed with the United Kingdom to initiate negotiations in Ankara to revise their free trade agreement (FTA), as the sides are looking for ways to strengthen economic ties.
The announcement came after Trade Minister Ömer Bolat held a virtual meeting with the U.K.’s newly appointed Business and Trade Minister and President of the Board of Trade Jonathan Reynolds.
Reynolds is a member of the Labour Party that returned to government after 14 years in opposition following a landslide victory at a July 4 election.
Bolat described the talks with Reynolds as productive, highlighting specific steps aimed at increasing trade volumes, encouraging investment and deepening cooperation between the two countries.
“We focused on concrete actions to boost trade volume, promote investments and strengthen our collaboration,” he wrote on social media platform X.
He noted that Türkiye and the U.K. aim to surpass $20 billion (TL 671.08 billion) in bilateral trade in 2024, and discussions centered on the necessary measures to achieve this goal.
A key point of the talks was the planned update of the free trade agreement, which has been in place since the U.K.’s departure from the European Union in 2020
Trade talks were paused during the election, but the new government said late last month that it would restart negotiations with multiple parties, including Türkiye.
The trade department said the first round of negotiations was expected to take place in the autumn and would include fresh talks with South Korea, Israel, Switzerland and Türkiye.
Bolat emphasized that both parties agreed to initiate negotiations in Ankara to revise the deal.
The updates are expected to extend the FTA’s scope to include services and investments, which could further deepen economic ties.
“Expanding the FTA to cover services and investments will be a crucial step in achieving the trade volume target of $30 billion, set by the leaders of both countries,” Bolat added.
Their bilateral trade reached $19 billion last year.
Bolat also highlighted the importance of cooperation in renewable energy and transportation projects, stressing that financing partnerships between Türkiye and the U.K. could play a vital role in these sectors.
He mentioned that the two countries would continue efforts to explore joint business opportunities in third countries, underlining the potential for collaboration between Turkish and British businesses on global projects.
