Trade Minister Bolat meets EU Trade Commissioner Sefcovic

ANKARA

Trade Minister Ömer Bolat has met with European Union Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic to discuss a wide range of issues on the margins of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris.

Bolat and Sefcovis addressed recent developments in global trade, potential cooperation opportunities within the Customs Union agreement between Türkiye and the EU and bilateral trade, the Trade Ministry said in a statement.

They also discussed the challenges faced by the Turkish business community regarding obtaining EU Schengen visas, it added.

It was agreed that all aspects of bilateral relations would be thoroughly discussed, concrete cooperation opportunities and solution proposals would be addressed at the second meeting of the High-Level Trade Dialogue mechanism to be held on July 1 in Ankara, with the participation of the business community and civil society organizations, according to the statement.

The parties emphasized the importance of the EU and Türkiye economies acting in coordination amid the evolving global economic and trade landscape, the prevailing uncertainty and the rising trend of protectionism and reaffirmed the commitment to enhancing bilateral integration, the ministry said.

Bilateral trade between Türkiye and the EU, which has maintained a balanced course under the customs union, has grown by 55 percent over the past five years, reaching a total volume of $220 billion by the end of 2024.

In the first five months of this year, the EU's share in Türkiye's exports rose to 43.5 percent.