Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today called on companies and businessmen from the United Arab Emirates to invest in Turkey, which is facing a severe economic crisis, welcoming a “new era” with the Gulf country and its former rival.
The Turkish head of state is paying his first official visit to the Emirates since Monday, after nearly ten years of rivalry with the oil-rich state, which Ankara has recently begun to approach.
“As leading private sector representatives in the UAE, I am confident that you fully understand the benefits of doing business and investing with Turkey,” Erdogan told business representatives in the UAE.
“The will of the politicians is very important for the relations between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to reach the level they deserve,” he added, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency. “But it is you, the members of our business community, who will realize the potential of both countries, especially in trade and investment,” he insisted.
According to the Turkish president, Ankara has enacted “attractive legislation” on investment and business creation.
Yesterday, Monday, Erdogan’s visit to the capital Abu Dhabi was marked by the signing of 13 cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding, the state news agencies of the two countries reported.
According to the Emirates WAM agency, the agreements cover, inter alia, the health, industry, advanced technology, agriculture and transport sectors. A preliminary co-operation agreement was also signed between the defense industries, according to the same source.
The UAE hopes to double or even triple the volume of trade with Turkey.
The trade volume of the two countries in the first half of 2021 amounted to over 26.4 billion dirhams (6.3 billion euros), in other words increased by 100% compared to the corresponding period of 2020, according to the official Emirates news agency, WAM.
Total UAE investment in Turkey reached almost 4.4 billion euros at the end of 2020, according to the WAM, while Turkish investment in the UAE – in construction, real estate, finance, insurance, industry …– reached 312 million euros.
At the same time, Erdogan met with the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, at Expo 2020, the first to be held in the Middle East.
The Turkish president’s visit follows that in November of Abu Dhabi’s crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the de facto leader of the UAE. On this occasion, it was announced that a fund of almost 9 billion euros has been set up to support investments in Turkey.
Turkey is facing a severe economic crisis characterized by a sharp drop in the Turkish pound and inflation that has officially reached almost 50%, or even much more, according to independent experts.
The rapprochement of Turkey and the Emirates comes at a time when these two regional powers are seeking to improve their diplomatic relations in general and attract international investment in various fields.
In recent years, relations between the two countries have been strained, with Abu Dhabi accusing Erdogan of supporting political Islam in the Arab world, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. They also clashed over regional issues, particularly in Libya, supporting different parties in the war there.
On the Turkish side, some local media outlets had also accused the Emirates of playing a role in the failed 2016 coup attempt by funding coup plotters.
However, in the context of economic challenges posed by the Covid-19 health crisis, Abu Dhabi, like Ankara, has launched regional charm operations.
The UAE has normalized its relations with Israel, reconciled with rival Qatar and seeks to relax ties with Iran. For its part, Turkey has undertaken to ease its relations with Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the first economic power in the Arab world.
A small country with high ambitions, the UAE has been embroiled in diplomatic “charm operations” in recent months, as its economy is being tested by fluctuating oil prices and the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic.
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