Turkey seeks Saudi investments in the country's key industries even as the government eyes a bigger slice in multi-billion dollar Saudi infrastructure and construction projects. “We are looking for Saudi experience and investment in refining, petrochemical and energy development to curtail our current account deficit figures,” Today's Zaman quoted Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Ca?layan as saying during an official trade delegation's visit to Saudi Arabia. He held talks with Saudi Commerce and Industry Minister Tawfiq Bin Fawzan Alrabiah, Minister of Transport Jabara Al-Seraisry, Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Housing Minister Shuwaish Bin Saud Al-Dhuwaihi and Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Prince Mansour Bin Miteb. The business forums held both in Jeddah and Riyadh brought together hundreds of businessmen from both sides. In Jeddah, the business forum saw the signing of agreements between the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) and the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Turkey's business interest group the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (MUS?AD). The agreement on cooperation in the construction sector between Turkey and Saudi Arabia was also signed by Ca?layan and his Saudi counterpart. The petrochemical industry is one of the six categories of industries highlighted by the Turkish government as contributing most to the current account deficit problem in Turkey. Others are listed as iron and steel, machinery, automotive, textile and agriculture. “We have studied our industries, and we know the specific sectors and subsectors that contribute to the current account deficit, and we are looking for ways to manufacture these items domestically rather than importing,” he told reporters in Riyadh Sunday. Ca?layan called on Saudi businesses to invest more in Turkey. Saudi companies have $1.4 billion in investments in Turkey, while Turkish companies have $600 million in investment in Saudi Arabia. He said Turkey is set to liberalize land and property sales to foreigners, including Saudis. “The draft law is in Parliament, and we will adopt it soon, allowing greater flexibility on this issue.” Ca?layan said both countries are also talking on visa liberalization issues for businessmen to facilitate trade and business contacts. “The difficulties in visa approval procedures create unfair competition. We are making progress and I understand it will take some time,” he noted. In his speeches in Riyadh and Jeddah, Ca?layan said both economies are not rival but rather complementary. “What Saudis sell is what we import, especially petrochemical goods. Petkim (a petrochemical company) meets only 15 percent of Turkey's demand. We may need five Petkims in Turkey,” he noted. The Turkish subsidiary of Azerbaijan's SOCAR, Petkim, held the groundbreaking ceremony for the Star Refinery in October, a joint investment with a total value of $5 billion between SOCAR and Turkey's Turcas (SOCAR-Turcas) which is expected to turn into a significant project to help reduce Turkey's widening current account deficit. The refinery will be constructed in Alia?a in ?zmir province with a capacity to process 10 million tons of raw materials, making it one of the most important processing centers in Europe. It is to be completed by 2015. Ca?layan also noted the marked improvement in trade volume between the two countries, saying it was evenly balanced. Turkey's trade volume with Saudi Arabia was $5.5 billion in 2008 before contracting 37 percent in 2009 due to the world financial crisis. It increased 30 percent last year, reaching $4.5 billion. In the first 10 months of this year, the volume had already reached $5.1 billion. The minister said he expects the volume to reach $6 billion in 2012 and put $20 billion as the target volume for the countries without specifying a time limit, stressing that he wants to see a bigger share of Turkish products in the imports of Saudi Arabia, which totals some $125 billion. Ca?layan said Turkey also wants Saudi Arabia to lobby for the speedy conclusion of free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council.
