Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Emphasizing that Czechia is an extremely important transit country in transportation by road from Türkiye to Western European countries and especially to Germany, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “While our transporters do not have problems in Slovakia crossings, the limited number of transit documents obtained from the Czech Republic is insufficient for our exports to Western Europe. The quota of Czech transit documents should be increased to a minimum of 25,000 units to meet the needs of our transportation sector. We expect the support of the Minister and the delegation in this regard.”

Türkiye-Czech Republic Business Forum was held at TOBB Twin Towers. TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Czech Chamber of Commerce President Vladimir Dlouhy, Czech Republic Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela and Trade Minister Mehmet Muş made the opening speeches of the forum.

- Hisarcıklıoğlu's invitation to Czech companies

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu, while expressing his desire to further expand trade relations with the Czech Republic in his speech here, said, “Our bilateral trade volume reached approximately 4.4 billion dollars in 2021. We can easily increase this figure to 5 billion dollars in a very short time. Czech investments in Türkiye are close to 700 million dollars. We are waiting for Czech companies to come to our country to increase this even more.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they are ready to work together to attract more Turkish investors to the Czechia, which has the best business and investment environment in Central Europe, and informed that Turkish contractors have undertaken projects worth $ 23.9 billion in 67 countries in 2021. Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that these projects include power plants, highways, tunnels and bridges and said that they are ready to take part in infrastructure projects in the Czech Republic.

Stating that Türkiye has established the largest industrial production capacity between Italy and China, the TOBB President said: “Türkiye is an entrepreneurial country that exports the largest industrial products in this region. Türkiye has become the main supplier of Europe in many sectors, especially in automotive, white goods and ready-to-wear. Currently, apart from itself, Türkiye is the country where the EU imports the most automobiles. Our country offers extremely attractive opportunities for investments and investors. The number of international companies, which was 6,000 in 2002, is now over 75,000. In addition to the customs union with the EU, with the free trade agreements we have made with many countries, a population of about 1 billion is reached without customs.

Despite all these positive developments, I would like to mention the issues that make trade and business relations of Turkish businesspeople with the European Union countries difficult. The first is the difficulties experienced by our Turkish citizens, especially those who want to engage in commercial activities, in the EU visa application process.

The second is the issue of modernization of the Customs Union. We need your support in this regard.

We want the modernization negotiations of the customs union to be started as soon as possible.

We are considering the Customs Union together with the green deal. Both will create a positive agenda in Türkiye-EU relations.”

- Trade Minister Muş calls for joint investment in the Czech Republic

In his speech, Trade Minister Mehmet Muş stated that they believe that Türkiye and the Czech Republic can make joint investments in the two countries with their mutually advantageous logistics locations, skilled labor force and suitable investment environments, and said, “We are ready to pave the way for our investors and businessmen and to provide all kinds of support for the development of economic relations between the two countries. In this sense, our door will be open to our Czech friends and interlocutors in every cooperation to be established.”

Muş continued his words as follows: “In 2021, our bilateral trade volume amounted to 4.3 billion dollars, which is the highest trade volume recorded to date. With this acceleration of increase in our trade, we believe that we can reach 5 billion dollars at the end of this year. This momentum we have achieved in our bilateral trade and investment relations clearly reveals two facts. First, amid the uncertainty caused by the pandemic and geopolitical risks, Czech companies have maintained confidence in the quality and competitiveness of Turkish firms. Secondly, our country has once again strengthened its position as one of the reliable ports in trade.”

Minister Muş, stating that important collaborations have emerged in the investment relations of the two countries in the recent period, said, “Our companies continue their investments mutually in many sectors such as energy, automotive and logistics. As you know, similar to the performance of our country in the last 20 years in the field of investment, the Czech Republic has also been an important destination in the field of investments. It is also noteworthy that with this performance, the Czech Republic has become one of the countries that attract the most foreign capital per capita in the EU. In this respect, we believe that our countries will be able to make joint investments in the two countries with their mutually advantageous logistics locations, skilled labor force and suitable investment environments.”

- Speeches by Sikela and Dlouhy

Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela said that Türkiye is one of the most important trade partners of their country. Stating that the bilateral trade volume is developing in 2022 as well as in 2021, Sikela stated that he is in Türkiye to further develop relations.

Sikela also said he believes the visit will contribute to the development of trade and economic relations between the two countries.

Czech Chamber of Commerce President Vladimir Dlouhy stated that they will meet with various companies in İstanbul tomorrow and said: “Türkiye is a country that we have focused on a lot in recent years. Business people in Türkiye have a good reputation because of their business habits and hard work. These characteristics are the result of Türkiye's success in developing modern technologies and modern industry in recent years. We have much to learn from your dynamism. We have a lot to learn by looking at how you develop your economy. We are looking for answers on how we can improve our cooperation not only in energy and infrastructure, but also in other areas.”

Pointing out that Türkiye is an increasingly powerful country, Dlouhy added that they are striving to solve the problem in the fields of visa and road transport.

- Protocol on cooperation in the nuclear field from ASO

Following Minister Muş's speech, the cooperation agreement between Ankara Chamber of Industry and Czech Energy Industry Partnership was signed by ASO President Nurettin Özdebir and Czech Energy Industry Association President Milan Simonovsky in the presence of Trade Minister Mehmet Muş, Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela and TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu.