The Vice President and Chancellor, Martha Lucia Ramirez met with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and with the Turkish Vice President, Fuat Oktay, to promote the cooperation and investment of Turkey and Columbia in sectors of high technology, manufacturing industries, production of processed foods and crops.
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The senior officials agreed on the need to deepen existing bilateral cooperation and explore new areas of work to consolidate their strategic alliance.
“The scientific, technological and innovation development of many of the Turkish manufactures generates a great opportunity to invest in Colombia and develop products that use the country as an export platform to the United States and regional markets.”, expressed Ramirez.
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The chancellor also opted for investments in the sector of steel, taking into account “infrastructure development and housing construction; in the automotive sector, auto parts and in the electric vehicle industry”.
This would be a window for Colombia of “inserting ourselves in these global value chains, and that the country can produce auto parts for said vehicles.”
In addition, Turkish officials were also invited to conduct investments in the agriculture, agribusiness and processed food sector, where they may have “big opportunities”.
(See: As of February, 2022 PGN commitments were $87.3 billion).
The foreign minister’s agenda will last until April 2 and it is proposed that she meet with the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (Tika) to find support for the education sector and gender equity in Colombia. She will also hold a meeting with the representatives of the Colombian community residing in Istanbul and with the Honorary Consul in that city.
According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, Colombian exports to Turkey totaled US$1.27 billion in 2021, 39% more than in 2020. Likewise, the trade balance between both countries maintains a surplus trend for Colombia in the last 5 years: in 2021, it reached a surplus of US$860.6 million, 26% higher than in 2020.
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