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Details of the Free Trade Agreement between the UK and Türkiye are being discussed.
To take the economic and trade relations between Türkiye and the UK one step further after Brexit, the ministers of both countries came together. So what will the implications of this situation be on trade? Meeting in London, the capital of the United Kingdom, UK Minister of State for International Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch and Trade Minister Ömer Bolat announced that official negotiations will start in June.
Providing various information about the scope of the new agreement, Bolat said, "At the 3rd meeting of the FTA Joint Committee held in Ankara on July 18, 2023, our technical teams shared the results of the review and finalized this process. We declared our mutual willingness to start the FTA update negotiations with the joint statement we issued after this meeting. We are very pleased to learn that the United Kingdom has recently completed the internal process that needs to be completed to start negotiations. The FTA negotiations will allow for a modern agreement that meets 21st-century standards and is better suited to the modern economies of Turkey and the UK. We are ready to hold the first round of the update negotiations in London during the week of June 10 this year. I believe that updating and expanding our FTA to different areas will help increase and diversify our bilateral trade and further contribute to the strong cooperation and ties between our countries."
"I am delighted to launch trade negotiations with Türkiye, an important economic and strategic partner of the United Kingdom. The new and modernized trade agreement, fit for the 21st century, will further strengthen our thriving trade relationship," said Minister Badenoch.
Bolat also stated that the total bilateral service trade, excluding tourism, was over 5 billion dollars in 2022 and added: "In 2023, the total value of Türkiye's investments in the UK was 4.9 billion dollars, and the total value of the UK's investments in Turkey was 8.6 billion dollars. However, the goods, services, and investment figures are far below their potential."
In this sense, the new agreement is expected to create a more robust legal basis for Türkiye and the UK businesspeople, as it will include trade in services and investments and additional agricultural concessions. Thanks to this agreement, the trade volume, which currently exceeds 19 billion dollars for both countries, is expected to be much higher.
