The value of bilateral commercial exchanges of almost 4 billion euros after the first nine months of 2013 is the guarantee that we can be optimistic about the development of the Romanian-Turkish economic relations, Romania's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR) Vice President Sorin Dimitriu said on Friday in the opening of Romania-Turkey business forum, Romanian news agency AGERPRES reported.
'Turkey is the number one economic partner outside the European Union member states and on the fifth place in the world chart. Romania is also important to Turkey and represents an important partner taking the 12th place in exports and the 15th place in imports. In 2013, Turkey was placed 16th concerning the direct investments in Romania. At present, about 14,000 companies with Turkish capital operate in Romania and there are growth estimations for 2014,' Sorin Dimitriu pointed out.
In this context, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Municipality of Bucharest opens in the second half of 2014 a representation office and a permanent exhibition of Romanian products in Turkey, in Istanbul. This office will provide the Romanian companies with the possibility of getting in contact with as many partners in the Balkan area as possible.
'The Turkish companies can have successful partnerships on projects in the energy area, on the agri-food industry, on tourism, with a focus on balneal tourism. On this segment, there is a series of units put up for privatisation, but here is also the possibility of developing greenfield projects. The mechanical product industry, as well as metallurgy are also sectors in which the companies of Turkey and Romania can cooperate successfully,' Sorin Dimitriu said.
CCIR on Friday organised Romania-Turkey economic business forum, in partnership with the Balkan Association of Manufacturers and Business People Rumelia - Balkasiad.
'The success of the Turkish business people is given in the first place by the fact that they do not stay at home waiting for opportunities to come to their feet, but look for new markets to invest in favourable places. We have confidence in Romania's future and that is why we also organise in Turkey, in the big cities, various events for Romania's media exposure as business, but also as cultural destination. We can say that the business environment is quite stable in Romania, mostly over the past year. The Government should not play too much with taxation, with fiscal burdens. In the current conditions, we can say Romania is a good place for Turkish investments,' Turkish Businessmen Association (TIAD) Secretary General Guver Gungor said.
About 20 Turkish businessmen, members of the Balkan Association of Manufacturers and Business People Rumelia participated in the economic forum.