The Netherlands will increase co-operation with Turkey in many fields such as trade, construction, logistics and manufacturing, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Co-operation said on Thursday.
“The Netherlands and Turkey have strong economic ties, the Netherlands is the biggest foreign direct investor in Turkey,” Reinette Klever told Anadolu in Istanbul, which she visited to hold meetings with Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat and Turkish and Dutch companies working in Turkey.
Klever also emphasised that trade between Turkey and the Netherlands has grown significantly over the past five years. She added:
“Exports from the Netherlands to Turkey doubled, and exports from Türkiye to the Netherlands also grew 50%.”
Stating that Turkey occupies a key geographical position between Asia and Europe, Klever emphasised that Turkey and the Netherlands can work together to use this to their advantage to bring goods from Asia through Turkey.
“Turkey is focusing on the digitisation of its manufacturing industry, and Dutch companies are good at that, so there are a lot of opportunities to enhance our cooperation,” she also noted.
Syria’s reconstruction was briefly discussed at the meeting, she said, adding that there are ways to work together and help Syria in the post-Assad era.
Relations between Ankara and The Hague deteriorated in March 2017 after Dutch authorities prevented former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu from travelling to the Netherlands for a meeting with Turkish citizens on constitutional reform in Turkey. The Dutch authorities also declared Turkish Family Affairs Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya an “undesirable foreigner.”
The Dutch government’s actions have angered Ankara. In March 2017, the Turkish Foreign Ministry described the Dutch ambassador’s return to the country from holiday as unwelcome. In February 2018, the Netherlands officially recalled its ambassador from Turkey.
