(MENAFN) Emphasizing the critical role of robust infrastructure in fostering development and facilitating trade, the Turkish treasury and finance minister highlighted his country's substantial investments in infrastructure to bolster connectivity.
Addressing participants at a session of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group's annual meeting and golden jubilee event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Monday, Mehmet Simsek revealed that Turkey, along with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq, has entered into an agreement pertaining to the Development Road project.
Via the road project, “we are going to connect Basra Port to highways and railways, all the way to London," he added.
"Why start from Basra? Because I think one of the links of one of the possible connectivity that was missing was from Basra to Türkiye and to Europe," he emphasized.
Referring to the challenges prevalent in Syria and other parts in the area, he remarked: "So you couldn't consider another alternative. And it seems like it was a perfect match, because we already have connectivity through Georgia, Azerbaijan all the way to Central Asia; there is a rail link."
He emphasized that trade serves as the engine driving both global growth and the growth of Turkey. In discussing trade fragmentation or protectionism, he highlighted these as significant obstacles.
"Türkiye has an advantage, because with fragmentation, friend-shoring and near-shoring are becoming new trends," he stressed, continuing that Türkiye is most likely one of the largest recipients of these new tracks.
Stressing Turkey's amicable relations with the EU, one of the largest mature economies as a bloc, Simsek underscored the country's robust historical and cultural trade connections with the Middle East and North Africa. Similarly, he emphasized Turkey's friendly relations with Central Asia.
"So, when you look at our immediate neighborhoods, which account for over 70 percent of Türkiye’s exports, our immediate neighborhood qualifies as friend and near," he clarified.
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