Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz met with British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden on Tuesday to discuss bilateral relations and regional developments.
Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Dowden, Yılmaz said he had “positive” talks with the deputy prime minister and that bilateral trade and financial ties were discussed at the meeting. Speaking about the free trade agreement between the two countries after Brexit, he said they wanted to deepen and expand the agreement.
The Turkish vice president said, adding they also discussed political and regional matters during the talk:
Negotiations continue in this regard in a positive way.
Noting the importance of maintaining high-level dialogue and ties in all fields, he lauded the “very good” trend between the two countries in this regard. Yilmaz noted:
Our meetings and contacts at all levels continue and these talks support initiatives that will benefit both countries.
The vice president went on to say that Turkey and the UK have been in contact on various projects in different fields, from defence to energy and aviation. He said he would meet with investors later on Tuesday, adding that foreign direct investment (FDI) is “very valuable.” The vice president added:
At this point, we have important ties with the UK. There is already an investment of more than $13 billion in Turkey. Turkish companies also have investments in the UK, we want to bring them to a higher level.
Recalling that bilateral trade between the two countries totalled $19 billion last year, Yılmaz expressed hope that the figure would exceed $20 billion this year.
Referring to tourism, another important valuable area for the two countries, he recalled that more than 3 million tourists from the UK visited Turkey last year, noting that this was a significant increase and they expect even more this year. The Turkish vice president added:
We think that we will reach a further level in all these areas with high-level meetings and more dialogue between both the public and private sectors. In this sense, we had very fruitful and positive talks.
