President Iván Duque made a working visit to Turkey where he met with his counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to, among others, sign a Strategic Cooperation and Association Agreement, with which it rises to the highest levelthe bilateral relationship between the two nations and will deal with issues related to trade, investment, vaccine production, security, technical cooperation, migration, culture and education.
The leaders held a private meeting at the Presidential Palace and led an extended meeting with the participation of the delegations of the two governments. Besides, at the Hotel Conrad Istanbul Bosphorus, President Duque held a meeting with unions, Turkish businessmen and investors, organized by ProColombia and the Embassy of Colombia in Turkey.
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“Double, triple and quadruple bilateral trade in the next decade starting as soon as possible. Today we have very representative investment flows from Turkey in Colombia, that we want to take it to its highest point and we have opportunities for complementary trade, where trade is in itself a win-win situation for the two nations,” said President Duque.
The Colombian president also revealed that, in the different meetings with Turkish businessmen, investment commitments were achieved in excess of 400 million euros. “That fact alone shows that Colombia is on the radar for such important sectors as road concessions, energy transition, tourism, and as a place to locate strategic household goods industries with a view to supplying Latin American markets and countries like United States and Canada,” he said.
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Cooperation Agreement between the Ministries of Health
These commitments are focused on the exchange of good practices for the national production of vaccines, strengthening of health and public health systems, health services in case of emergency or catastropheetc.
Protocol of Cooperation between the General Archive of the Nation
The purpose is to conduct research and exchange reproduced samples of archival documents in accordance with their national laws; carry out exchange activities between experts in the field of archives; exchange archive publications; and organize scientific meetings and exhibitions.
Cooperation Agreement on Education
Its objectives are to promote mechanisms to generate spaces for academic and scientific exchanges between the higher education institutions of both parties. In addition, support educational and internship mobility of studentsacademic staff and researchers from higher education institutions in the two countries.