UAE, Turkey Trade Up 197% In H1 2012

Trade between the UAE and Turkey increased by 197 per cent during the first half of 2012, according to official figures.

Trade exchange between the two countries rose to $5.3 billion in the first six months of 2012, official news agency WAM quoted Abdul Salam Al Ali, director of the UAE’s Department of Foreign Trade Policies as saying.

While exports to Turkey from the UAE grew by 481 per cent to $1.6 billion, imports to the UAE from Turkey rose by 1.48 per cent to $3.4 billion, he said.

The UAE is the second biggest trade partner for Turkey in the Middle East region after Iraq, he added.

Bilateral relations between the UAE and Turkey have growing steadily in recent times.

Earlier this month, state power companies in the two countries signed an agreement to invest in a $12 billion power project in Turkey’s Afsin-Elbistan region.

Under the agreement, Abu Dhabi-based TAQA and Turkey’s state-owned Electricity Generation Company (EUAS) will acquire, modernise and expand the existing 1,400 MW Plant B and develop several new power plants and associated coal mines in southern Turkey.

The project is expected to provide the region with 8,000 megawatts of power at full capacity and is estimated to be completed in 2021, the companies said.

The agreement follows the signing of a joint declaration between Abu Dhabi and the Turkish government in October 2012.