Türkiye-Kuwait Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEİK) on Thursday (November 4, 2021) launched its report on Kuwait and Türkiye bilateral economic relations. Chaired by Turkish Limak Holding's Board President Ebru Özdemir, the Report titled ‘Bilateral Trade and Foreign Direct Investment for Kuwait and Turkey: Leveraging Economic Relations to Promote Further Growth' aims to provide business circles, investors and decision makers both in Kuwait and in Turkey a practical guide to take forward their business plans.

The virtual launch event of the Report brought together high level representatives from the Turkish Embassy in Kuwait, Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA), Investment Office of Presidency of Republic of Türkiye and DEİK.

On the launch event Türkiye-Kuwait Business Council and Limak Chair Ebru Özdemir said: "Past 50 years since Türkiye and Kuwait established diplomatic relations, our bilateral relations on the whole enjoyed a steady development. The past 15 years in particular have witnessed active and fruitful interactions between two countries thanks to the strong dialogue between leaders of two countries. And today, bilateral trade relations between our countries are at a major crossroad with both countries are looking forward to advance cooperation". On Business Council's activities Limak's Özdemir said: "More efforts are needed to be spent to increase and boost bilateral economic cooperation between Turkey and Kuwait, especially in the post-pandemic period. As the Türkiye-Kuwait Business Council, we continue our activities since 2006 and always looking after for new ways to contribute the economic relations".

DEİK President Nail Olpak, in his welcoming address emphasized 3 main takeaways from the pandemic period, namely disruption of the supply chains, changing perception on logistics and urgent need for global supply chains resilience. President Olpak said: "As the Turkish business community we had and still have an uninterrupted supply chain from the beginning of the outbreak, so we're eager and we desire to have much more bilateral economic relations including direct investments with Kuwait".

President Olpak continued by: "We should cooperate on new and potential areas such as e-commerce, finance, banking & fintech (financial technology), but also on traditionally strong sectors, namely construction, infrastructure, medical sector, food and health sectors. In September 2021, as DEİK we organized a joint webinar with the participation of Kuwaiti banks and Turkish banks to further enhance the relations between two countries in both conventional banking sector and in Islamic banking, which I believe has a strong potential. I hope, these joint efforts will be useful and productive for both parties."

Burak Dağlıoğlu, the President of the Investment Office of Presidency of Republic of Türkiye, said the Report aims to provide an overview of the investment landscape in Türkiye and Kuwait. "I hope that this report will be a roadmap for the development of mutual trade and investments," he added. Turkish Investment Office's President Dağlıoğlu also stressed:

"a resilient and fast-growing economy, Türkiye offers business-friendly policies, deep talent pool, and global market access at the nexus of Europe, Asia, and Africa to attract sustainable FDI".

Mohammed Mulla Yaqoub, Deputy Director General for Business Development of KDIPAemphasized the  trade and investment potential between Türkiye and Kuwait, and also business potential in logistics sector.Deputy Director General Yaqoub said: "We believe that the pandemic pushed all of us to become more sufficient and efficient, and this requires the collaboration among countries". KDIPA's Director GeneralYaqoub also emphasized the importance of Kuwait Vision 2023 for business investors: "In the scope of Kuwait Vision 2035, public sector started a huge privatization process and we want from Turkish companies to come and to become partner with us in the privatization process". Yaqoub also highlighted the Turkey's business-friendly environment and their desire to work for increasing sectoral diversity in the bilateral trade between Turkey and Kuwait.

Ayşe Hilal Sayan Koytak, Türkiye's Ambassador to Kuwait, on the launch event said that economic and commercial cooperation is at the core of Turkey-Kuwait relations. "Currently, there are 383 companies in Turkey having Kuwaiti investors. The total foreign direct investment inflows from Kuwait to Turkey between 2002 and 2020 already passed $2 billion," she added. So, by launching a report on bilateral trade and foreign direct investment, the Business Council is again underlining a crucial aspect of the bilateral ties, she highlighted.

On the Report

The Report encompasses a general picture of Türkiye-Kuwait bilateral economic cooperation and latest developments in the relations; it also highlights key sectors and potential areas of investment for both countries. Accompanied with practical information for future investors and a brief about the economy as a whole and agencies involved in advancing FDI in both the countries, the Report aims to draw the way forward for Türkiye and Kuwait in the economic sphere.

The Report could be reached at: https://www.deik.org.tr/information-center-publications

The recording of the virtual lauch could be reached at: https://youtu.be/DiWta3wAuV4

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