ID :
369367
Sat, 05/30/2015 - 15:52
Auther :

Turkish ambassador: Bahraini exports to Turkey soar to $ 294 m

Manama, May 30 (BNA): The Turkish Ambassador to Bahrain Hatun Demirer has revealed that Bahrain-Turkey trade balance is in favour of Bahrain for the first time in the history of the joint trade relations, noting that the volume of Bahraini exports rose to unprecedented levels last year, recording US $ 294 million, compared to only $ 204 million for Turkish exports to Bahrain, while the overall value of bilateral trade reached more than US $ 498 million. In an interview with "Akhbar Al Khaleej" newspaper, Ambassador Demirer affirmed that the economic and investment relations are fully compatible with the development of the outstanding bilateral relations, pointing out that the prospects for joint economic cooperation are extended and promising, and these numbers can be doubled in the next few years. Trade between Turkey and Bahrain has made a steady growth over the past years, as the value of bilateral trade reached US $138 million only in 2009 and US $243.7 million in 2010, then it rose in 2011 to about US $ 272 million and $ 367 million in 2012. In 2013, bilateral trade maintained a slight growth rate valued at US $ 371 million and then jumped again in 2014 to hit 498.4 million dollars. The ambassador asserted that there are nine Turkish banks operating in Bahrain, which, she said, is an important financial centre in the region, stressing that these banks did not start recently, but they have been operating since the 1980’s. She added that most of these banks work in the investment sector not the retail one, and therefore they may not be known at the popular level. Regarding the most prominent sectors for bilateral cooperation, Demirer said that petroleum products, aluminum and textiles are Bahrain’s major exports to Turkey, while Turkish exports to Bahrain include electrical equipment, spare parts, clothing, textiles, food, iron ore, furniture, and lighting devices. Demirer said that tourism between Bahrain and Turkey is growing steadily, highlighting the increase in the number of Bahraini tourists to Turkey within the past ten years. Figures indicate that the number has increased from 3.155 in 2004 to 24.305 in 2014, while the number of Bahrainis who visited Turkey in 2012 was around 13.342, and 16.230 in 2013.

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