Kuwait invites Turkey to gigantic projects
Posted by meb at April 6th, 2007
Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Naser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said that Kuwait had four big projects worth billions of dollars that they would like Turkey to take part in, adding: “We want Turkey to be a part of the projects of the Gulf countries. We can help Turkey in this.”
Speaking at a working dinner organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Council (DEİK), the visiting prime minister stressed that his visits in Ankara had been fruitful and noted that he had spoken with his counterpart, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, about bilateral relations and recent developments in the world. Pointing out that the volume of trade between the two countries was lower than desired, Al-Sabah said that Turkey’s exports to Kuwait were currently valued at $324 million, and that they were hoping to double, triple, or even quadruple this figure as relations improved.
Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, the chairman of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), also drew attention to the fact that the trade volume between the two countries was low. Hisarcıklıoğlu said they wanted to share these positive developments with the businessmen in Kuwait and to establish a profitable cooperation. “Turkey’s investments in the field of energy are projected to reach $128 billion in 10 years, which in turn presents an important opportunity for cooperation between Turkey and the Arab countries. We are very much concerned with having a partnership with Arab countries in this field. Hydro-energy and renewable energy resources in particular would provide us with important investment opportunities,” Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized.
Hisarcıklıoğlu said Kuwaiti banks had assumed financial risks on behalf of Turkish banks and for that reason it was possible to provide all sorts of letters of guarantee. He noted that the acceptance of letters of guarantee with the help of United Arab Emirates and Qatari banks was also possible but that this increased the cost for investors. He also requested that Al-Sabah issue an instruction for Kuwaiti banks to engage in direct relations with Turkish banks.
source: Today’s Zaman
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