Speaking at the ACE BPSC 2026 Conference held in a hotel in Istanbul, Minister Bolat stated that approximately 2 thousand US investors and companies are engaged in production, trade and export activities in Türkiye.
Bolat announced that in addition to the investment of 16.5 billion dollars, the total investments received to date have reached 60 billion dollars.
Emphasizing that the USA is an important partner for Türkiye, Bolat said that the total trade volume between the two countries last year was 38.6 billion dollars and the USA had a foreign trade surplus of 6 billion dollars.
Bolat said:
"Especially due to aircraft purchases and our increasing LNG imports, both foreign trade increased by around 12-13 percent and our total trade developed well. This trend continues this year as well. According to the data of the first 9 months, there is a 17 percent increase in Turkey-US trade and US exports to Türkiye increased by 2.5 billion dollars. Türkiye's exports to the US also increased by 1.8 billion dollars. These have the positive impact of all these efforts, meetings and investments, fairs and forums we attended. "And the friendship and solidarity between the leaders of the two countries brings about a positive reflection of bilateral political relations on trade and economy."
Explaining that trade, investment and economic relations are rapidly positively affected when political relations are good, Bolat stated that they are committed to the annual trade target of 100 billion dollars set by US President Donald Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Stating that the trend is positive, Bolat said, "We will be able to reach 50 billion dollars in total trade between Türkiye and the USA by 2028 at the latest." he said.
Stating that direct investments from Türkiye to the USA have reached 14.5 billion dollars, Bolat noted that the Turkish business world is active in the fields of trade, logistics and investment in many regions of the USA.
Stating that Turkey-USA trade has approximately doubled in the last 10 years, and that the trade volume, which was approximately 21 billion dollars in 2015, increased to 38.6 billion dollars, Minister Bolat stated that if it reaches 43 billion dollars this year, an increase of more than two times will be achieved in the 10-year period.
Bolat said, "In terms of tourism, 1 million 600 thousand American tourists come to Türkiye every year. Approximately 260 thousand people travel from Türkiye to America every year." he said.
Stating that Turkish Airlines (THY) flies to 14 cities in the USA and the number of daily flights is 23, Bolat said, "It provides a great advantage in terms of connection between America and the whole world. Turkish Airlines really has a significant advantage in American routes." he said.
Stating that Türkiye is a country that imports a significant amount in addition to exports, Bolat said that there are mandatory import items, especially raw materials, production inputs and energy products.
Explaining that annual goods imports are approximately 379 billion dollars and service imports are 62-63 billion dollars, Bolat noted that American companies have a significant advantage in service imports.
Minister Bolat stated that Türkiye has attracted 294 billion dollars of foreign investment in 23 years and said, "The number of foreign companies and investors, which was 5 thousand in 2002, reached the limit of 90 thousand this year. These companies invest, bring money, produce and employ in Türkiye." He made a statement.
Stating that Türkiye is a country that is very open to foreign trade, Bolat said, "The total export of goods and services is 410 billion dollars. As of July, our national income was announced as 1.7 trillion dollars. The rate of national income of exports of goods and services is 27 percent." he said.
Bolat said, "If we add imports to this, we have a total of 865 billion dollars of goods and services, exports and imports." made his assessment.
Stating that Türkiye is in the top 10 in the world in ports, logistics centers and sea routes, Bolat continued his words as follows:
"We are again among the top 11 in the world in road transportation. We are fourth in the world with Turkish Airlines in air transportation, fourth in the world in tourism, and second in the world in contracting after China. We are also a country with a strong production capability in terms of manufacturing industry.
We do this with the imports we make from the USA, the imports we make from the European Union, the imports we make from the Far East, our energy imports. In other words, there is no one-sided trade, there is bilateral trade, and we work with the win-win formula of the countries we do business with. "We are trying to achieve this on the basis of equality and balanced trade."
Bolat explained that the European Union is Türkiye's number one foreign trade partner and stated that the EU's share in Türkiye's exports is 43 percent and its share in imports is 32 percent.
Stating that 63 percent of the 294 billion dollars of direct investment coming to Türkiye comes from Europe, Bolat concluded his words as follows:
“This has created a huge supply chain. Especially in the last 23-24 years under the leadership of our President, the Customs Union has turned into a very successful industrial integration and Türkiye-EU trade has increased from 21 billion dollars in 1996 to 233 billion dollars. It increased 11 times in 30 years.
Average inflation rates, which were around 1 percent and 2 percent in the USA and the European Union, increased to 10 percent and 11 percent in 2021 and 2022 during the Covid period. Trade wars in the world accelerated when China came to the market and said "I'm here" and with its rapid attacks in the world markets. "There are really tough negotiations going on between the United States, the European Union, China and other developing countries, and the winds of trade wars and trade protectionism are blowing very quickly."
