UK aims to fast-track free trade agreement expansion with Türkiye

(MENAFN) Türkiye has been identified as a priority for the UK in completing the expansion of their free trade agreement, UK Minister of State for Trade Policy Chris Bryant said, noting that negotiations have moved far more quickly than anticipated.

“Türkiye is in our short list of countries that we want to complete our free trade agreement with as soon as we possibly can,” Bryant said. He added, “At the beginning of the process, which was only last summer, we thought that it would take quite a long time to go through each of the different rounds. We've managed to do three rounds in six months. That's almost unheard of in free trade agreement processes.”

The UK–Türkiye Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force on January 1, 2021, has accelerated bilateral trade, with the total trade reaching £28 billion (nearly $38 billion) last year.

During high-level talks in London, both countries signed a new Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) Action Plan containing 16 concrete measures, along with a mutual recognition agreement. The agreements were signed during the 8th term meeting of the Türkiye–UK JETCO, held alongside the visit of Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat. Both sides aim to double bilateral trade volume in the mid-term.

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