$10 billion trade target with Canada

Following the meetings with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan within the scope of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to Türkiye, a unification partnership was initiated between the two countries and important steps were taken to develop economic and commercial studies.

According to the structure of the Canadian Prime Ministry, there was a 3-year action plan envisaging the deepening of cooperation in the fields of trade and investment, defence, security and energy. It was decided that the first round of negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement between the two countries would be held in Ankara between 30 November and 4 December.

It was stated that trade between Canada and Türkiye has increased by approximately 50 percent since 2020, and it was reported that a cooperation agreement was signed between the Canadian Export Development Agency and Turkish Eximbank for the projects ranked third.

In addition, an agreement was reached on the creation of partnerships in the defense industry and the separation of cooperation in the fields of LNG, nuclear and fissionable energy and critical minerals. While it was announced that Canada would send a trade delegation to Türkiye in 2027, flight durations between the two countries were increased from 12 to 21 and it was announced that unlimited cargo flights were allowed.

"DEFENSE INDUSTRY HOLDS SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITIES IN COOPERATION PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES"

Making a statement to the AA correspondent, Mehmet Yılmaz stated that global geopolitical developments have led their countries to re-evaluate their trade, and that Türkiye has an important activity in the process of diversifying Canada's trade partners.

Yılmaz pointed out that recent geopolitical developments have made it possible to directly improve the economic and commercial policies of countries.

Pointing out that Canada is among the countries most affected by these developments, Yılmaz said, "Canada carries out approximately 70 percent of its foreign trade with the USA, and therefore the regions of creating new trade partners are becoming evident." made his assessment.

Pointing out that there are investments in various fields, especially between Türkiye and Canadian mining, Yılmaz emphasized that Canadian mining operations continue their healthy and people-friendly activities in Türkiye.

Pointing out that the defense industry also contains important opportunities in the perspective of cooperation between the two countries, Yılmaz said:

"Our strong capacity in the defense industry, especially in manufacturing, attracted the attention of Canadians. Canada is very strong in artificial intelligence, information technologies and space sciences, but they are not as strong and fast as Turkey on the manufacturing side. Our production ability and agility create a significant advantage."

MEETINGS BETWEEN LEADERS GAVE NEW MOMENTUM TO PROMOTIONS

Mehmet Yılmaz stated that the country exhibited the developments between the two countries very quickly and said that the meetings at the leadership level gave new impetus to economic cooperation.

Explaining that important decisions were brought to the agenda at the press conference held by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Yılmaz continued:

"The promotions, which had cooled down for a very long time, heated up very quickly. At the end of the year, it was decided to complete the negotiations and sign the free trade agreement. It was decided to increase the flights of Turkish Airlines twice. Our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also said that they would go to Canada with business people and evaluate the discounts together."

Drawing attention to the continuation of cooperation between the two countries and the expansion of progress, Yılmaz emphasized that it is important to re-establish nuclear energy fields.

Yılmaz stated that Canada's nuclear energy technologies are clean and open to technology transfer, and that only an agreement in this field can establish a long-term partnership between the two countries.

Yılmaz said, "Canada definitely wants to see Türkiye among its trading partners that want to diversify. When fields such as energy, oil, natural gas, mining, nuclear energy, defense industry and artificial intelligence technologies are evaluated, Türkiye should be one of the 3 or 4 potential partners because the will in this direction has become very clear." he said.

"THE CURRENT TRADE VOLUME DOES NOT REFLECT THE POTENTIAL OF THE TWO COUNTRIES"

DEİK Türkiye-Canada Business Council President Yılmaz emphasized that the trade volume, which currently stands at approximately 3 billion dollars, has been expanded.

Pointing out what the leaders have concretely put forward on this issue, Yılmaz said, "We are currently at the level of approximately 3 billion dollars. This figure is well below our potential for both Canada and Turkey. The leaders have clearly stated the target of 5 billion dollars and 10 billion dollars in the near and medium term. As Turkish business people, this target has been achieved and accepted as a home target." he said.

Stating that political will contributed to the economic deterioration, Yılmaz stated that sharing created a suitable environment for the evaluation of business rates.

Yılmaz said, "I think we can reach 5 billion trade volume in the next 3-year perspective. Then we can move towards the 10 billion target. These targets are not a dream." shared per year.

Stating that he has been working as a Canadian company manager for nearly 40 years and has been following the commercial relations between the two countries, Yılmaz said that they were impressed by the entrepreneurship and determination of Turkish researchers in the Canadian business world.

Stating that they carried out various activities in Canada in the field of defense industry last year and in the ship industry this year, Yılmaz added that they will continue to accelerate their work on commercial relations between the two countries.