Arab League Countries Ambassadors' Meeting Held in Trabzon
Diplomatic representatives of the countries that are members of the Arab League convened in Trabzon under the hosting of the Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM).
TİM Chairman Mustafa Gültepe: Trade is the most important way to build bridges of friendship. With this understanding, we act on a win-win principle. We want to reach the $100 billion target in bilateral trade as quickly as possible.
The “Arab League Countries Ambassadors' Meeting” program, organized by the Ministry of Trade and the Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM), was held in Trabzon. At the meeting, attended by 15 senior diplomatic representatives, Trabzon's commercial and touristic strengths were highlighted.
13,000 bilateral business meetings across 14 countries
In his opening remarks, TİM Chairman Mustafa Gültepe, who hosted the meeting, stated that they carried out 50 trade delegations last year across 14 Arab League member countries and participated in 74 fairs. Gültepe said, “Through our delegations, we brought together 720 Turkish companies with nearly 3,400 buyers. A total of 13,000 bilateral business meetings were held among our companies. This year, we will continue our efforts at the same pace.”
Emphasizing that they also implement projects to enhance companies' competitiveness, Gültepe continued as follows:
“From innovation to design, from sustainability to macro strategies, we are working with all our strength for our export family. We see all these efforts as a solid foundation for new collaborations we will develop with the Arab world. Between Türkiye and the Arab world, there are deep-rooted historical and cultural ties. We believe these ties will be further strengthened through commercial relations.”
Türkiye's exports to the Arab League reached $49 billion
Pointing out that 2025 is a challenging year for global trade, Gültepe noted:
“Under the shadow of conflicts, regional tensions, and trade wars, new balances have emerged in global trade. This process is still ongoing. In this difficult period, we broke the Republic-era record with $273.4 billion in exports. We increased our merchandise exports by 4.5%. On the services exports side, we estimate that we will exceed $122 billion. In our exports, the automotive, chemicals, electronics, ready-to-wear, and steel sectors stand out. We recorded remarkable increases in the defense and aerospace, cereals, and jewelry sectors.”
Drawing attention to the fact that Arab League countries have gained significant momentum with their rising gross domestic product, Gültepe stated, “These figures are of great importance for the region's future. In the Arab League, we see that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Algeria, and Iraq have the top five largest economies. In addition, over the next five years, it is projected that nearly every country in the region will grow more than in the previous five years.”
Noting that Arab League countries carried out $1.2 trillion in imports in 2024, Gültepe continued:
“In these imports, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, and Morocco are leading. Türkiye's exports to the Arab League, meanwhile, reached approximately $49 billion. Although we achieved the highest figure in value terms, our share of Arab League countries' imports remained limited to 3.9%. Yet, when we look at Arab League countries' imports over the past 10 years, we see an increase of more than 50%. Over the same period, Türkiye's share of the Arab League's imports remained unchanged. We aspire to increase our exports to our friendly and brotherly Arab League countries both in ratio and in value terms.”
“We want to reach the $100 billion target in bilateral trade as quickly as possible”
Stating that there is a striking sectoral distribution in exports to Arab countries, Gültepe said, “While chemicals rank first, cereals are second, our jewelry sector is third, steel is fourth, and our furniture sector ranks fifth. We have exceeded the $1.5 billion threshold in 10 sectors. In addition, we identified 326 product groups with potential in our exports to Arab League countries.”
Pointing out that exports to Arab League countries in these product groups could be doubled, Gültepe stated, “It is important for our geography that we evaluate these and similar opportunities. Trade is the most important way to build bridges of friendship. With this understanding, we act on a win-win principle. We want to reach the $100 billion target in bilateral trade as quickly as possible.”
Turkish Trade Bank's Trabzon branch opened
The Trabzon Branch of Turkish Trade Bank began providing services in the Trabzon Chamber of Commerce and Industry building. Speaking at the opening, TİM Chairman Mustafa Gültepe stated that Turkish Trade Bank has delivered significant services to the country and the economy from past to present. Emphasizing that Türkiye's growth will be possible through an export- and production-oriented development model, Gültepe said, “In this regard, it is of great importance for exporters to have a bank that will provide project- and credit-based support exclusively to exporting companies. The value of this structure will become much clearer in the period ahead.”