Turkey and Brazil agree to increase trade volume to US$10 billion

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Turkey seeks to increase the trade volume with Brazil to US$10 billion and make it more balanced.

Çavuşoğlu made this statement at a joint press conference with his Brazilian counterpart, Alberto Franco França, in the Brazilian capital, where he is on an official visit, following face-to-face and inter-delegation meetings and the signing of some agreements.

“There are strong ties between Turkey and Brazil that go back more than 160 years. We raised our relations to the level of strategic partnership in 2010,” he said.

The Turkish foreign minister noted that he attended the fourth meeting of the Turkey-Brazil High Cooperation Commission and added: “We focused on increasing trade and investments, cooperation in military industry and defense, development of tourism, cooperation in the spheres of culture and education. We signed important agreements to strengthen our economic, cultural, and social relations.”

The head of Turkish diplomacy indicated that they had set a target to reach the trade volume of US$10 billion in the coming period in today’s meetings. Çavuşoğlu also stated that he wants the second meeting of the Joint Economic Commission (KEK) meeting to be held with the participation of França.

Regarding the free trade agreement negotiations between Turkey and the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR), Çavuşoğlu said, “We also want to revive the free trade agreement negotiations between Turkey and MERCOSUR. The support of the friendly country Brazil is important in this regard.”

He further stressed that the number of Brazilian tourists coming to Turkey is around 100,000 and said that his country is asking to host 150,000 or more tourists from Brazil.

Çavuşoğlu said he also supported tourist arrivals from Turkey to Brazil and added: “Turkish Airlines (THY) flights to São Paulo are an important incentive. THY now also plans to fly to Rio de Janeiro. Therefore, we can increase the number of mutual tourists with these flights.”

The Turkish head of state emphasized that they strongly support Brazil’s candidacy to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).”

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu later met with President Jair Bolsonaro at the Planalto Palace (Presidential Palace).

“We met with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and discussed our bilateral relations and the latest developments in Ukraine,” Çavuşoğlu tweeted after their meeting.