Minister of Trade Bolat: Türkiye's trade volume with OIC countries has reached 108 billion dollars

Bolat stated that Türkiye's trade volume with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries reached 108 billion dollars in the nine months of this year and said, "This corresponds to an increase of 8.2 percent compared to the same period of 2025. In the same period, our exports to the OIC countries increased to 55 billion dollars." he said.

The second of the "B57+ Business Leaders Summit" is held in Istanbul simultaneously with the 42nd Meeting of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). At the summit, which brings together ministers, senior policy makers, national institutions, chambers of commerce, investors, multinational companies and business representatives, investment, trade and cross-border cooperation opportunities are evaluated.

In his speech at the opening of the second day of the summit, Bolat stated that the global economy and politics have gone through a comprehensive transformation and said, "Geopolitical tensions, wars, climate change, challenges to food and energy security, disruptions in supply chains and logistics lines, difficulties in accessing finance, vulnerabilities in the global supply chain and increasing trade protectionism, all of these directly affect the Islamic world." he said.

Stating that sustainable development and prosperity are achieved not only by mobilizing national resources, but also by bringing these resources together in line with common goals, Bolat said, "OIC member states, consisting of 57 countries, have a significant potential in the global economy with their young and dynamic populations, natural resources, strategic geographical locations, expanding production capacities and growing markets." he said.

Bolat stated that, according to the 2026 Economic Outlook Report of the Islamic Countries Statistics, Economic and Social Research and Training Center (SESRIC), OIC member countries have a total population of more than 2 billion, and said:

"They constitute approximately 1/4 of the world's population, their total economic size has reached 10 trillion dollars, and their total trade volume has reached approximately 5 trillion dollars. In 2025, our countries have recorded a record economic growth of 4.1 percent on average, exceeding the global world average. All these figures clearly reveal the weight of the OIC region in the global economy and the opportunities that can arise when we act together. Economic cooperation within the OIC aims to strengthen the positions of our countries in global value chains and increase production capacity." "We should see it as a strategic process aimed at increasing economic resilience."

Stating that according to the data of the Center for Development of Islamic Trade (ICDT), total trade between the OIC countries reached approximately 979 billion dollars last year, Bolat stated that intra-OIC trade constitutes approximately 20 percent of the total foreign trade of the member countries, which is approximately 5 trillion dollars.

"Türkiye's trade with the OIC countries has increased significantly in recent years."

Minister Bolat stated that, as Türkiye, they attach great importance to strengthening economic and commercial cooperation under the umbrella of the OIC and continued as follows:

"We consider promoting trade between member countries, encouraging investments, facilitating trade and deepening relations between our private sectors among our main priorities. Türkiye's trade with the OIC countries has increased significantly in recent years. While Türkiye's total trade volume with the OIC countries was at the level of 87.5 billion dollars in 2013, it increased to almost 120 billion dollars last year.

Türkiye's trade volume with the OIC countries reached 108 billion dollars in the nine months of the year. This corresponds to an increase of 8.2 percent compared to the same period in 2025. In the same period, our exports to OIC countries increased to 55 billion dollars. We aim to increase the share of OIC countries in our total trade volume from 27 percent to 30 percent by 2028. "However, our goal is not only to increase trade volume but also to establish more balanced, diversified and sustainable trade relations."

Stating that they have deepened the regional economic integration between OIC member countries through initiatives such as the Preferential Trade System Among OIC Member States (TPS-OIC), Bolat stated that they believe that further expanding the scope of the system will increase trade between countries, create new investment opportunities and strengthen regional production networks.

Bolat stated that direct foreign investment inflows to OIC countries increased between 2021 and 2025 and said, "Investment inflows, which were at 148 billion dollars in 2021, reached 220 billion dollars last year. However, direct foreign investments increased by approximately 0.6 percent last year compared to 2024. While global direct foreign investments recorded a stronger growth, OIC's share in global direct foreign investments is at 13.5 percent." made his assessment.

Bolat said that investments between countries should be increased, cross-border capital flows should be facilitated and more effective participation of the private sector in long-term development projects should be ensured. He said:

"According to the data of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, direct foreign investment of 1 billion 622 million dollars came to our country from OIC member countries last year, and approximately 600 million dollars of inflow was recorded in the eight months of this year. We believe that it is necessary to modernize the 1981 OIC Agreement on the Promotion, Protection and Guarantee of Investments, negotiations in this direction started last year. The renewal of this agreement to protect and encourage investments between our member countries constitutes an important step in this direction. "does."

"We are going through a period when global investments are concentrated in strategic sectors."

Minister Bolat said that we are going through a period in which global investments are becoming increasingly selective and are especially concentrated in strategic sectors such as digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, clean energy, renewable energy and advanced production systems.

Stating that this transformation brings with it both significant opportunities and new responsibilities for countries, Bolat said, "Joint investments in renewable energy, infrastructure, agriculture, food safety, health, manufacturing and technology, especially in all of these sectors, will make long-term contributions to the economic resilience of our countries. Joint ventures, technology transfer, research and development activities and investments in qualified human capital will lay the foundations of permanent economic partnerships between our member countries." he said.

Bolat pointed out that the opportunities offered by digital transformation should be utilized more in strengthening economic cooperation and said:

"Simplifying customs procedures, arranging trade documents electronically, accelerating cross-border trade processes and developing digital trade infrastructure will facilitate our businesses' access to international markets. Supporting the access of our small and medium-sized enterprises, especially their access to finance and new markets, is essential to make our economic cooperation more inclusive. The development of financial and support mechanisms that will ensure the more active participation of young entrepreneurs, women and new enterprises in economic life will be an integral part of our common development goals."

Stating that Turkey sees its production capacity, entrepreneurial experience, developing financial infrastructure and strategic connectivity as a strong basis for mutually beneficial partnerships, Bolat said, "If we can bring together our capital, production capacity, technology and human resources in line with our common goals, we will further increase the resilience of our own economies within the OIC. As Turkey, we will continue to work to make the economic cooperation between OIC member states more concrete, result-oriented and sustainable." he said.

"Our goal is to reach 30 percent in 2028"

In his statement to the journalists after the opening ceremony, Minister Bolat stated that the B57+ Business Leaders Summit was held and said, "It was decided to start B57 meetings under the chairmanship of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development 2 years ago so that the COMCEC meetings would not remain only at the level of politicians and public administrators, but also for members of the private sector to come together in meetings to exchange views and create a network in many fields such as trade, investment, energy, transportation." he said.

Stating that the first organization held last year was also supported by the Ministry of Commerce, Bolat made the following statement:

"This year we are holding the second one. The opening meeting is over, now the working meetings have started. Business people, chamber of commerce and industry presidents, members, financiers, experts, academicians from various countries will exchange ideas and make presentations throughout the day, especially on the issue of the global south region having a stronger and more resilient economy. B2B meetings, finance and real sector meetings will be held between business people. On this occasion, we will hold bilateral meetings with the ministers of sister countries who have arrived for the COMCEC COMCEC meetings, which will start tomorrow in our country. "We will talk about the points we have reached in economic relations between countries and how we can improve them, our trade volume and investment relations."

Referring to the fact that Türkiye attaches great importance to developing economic relations with the OIC, Bolat said, "The winds of protectionism and trade wars that have emerged in the world in recent years make it necessary for us to connect more closely to each other and advance our integration among Islamic countries. Because, in the face of shrinking markets and slowly closing doors in the markets of developed countries, we absolutely need to increase our economic cooperation with the Islamic world and the countries of the region in order to continue our economic development and increase the welfare of our people." he said.

Stating that efforts to increase trade and investments continue, Bolat said:

"During the leadership of our President, the share of Türkiye's foreign trade with the Islamic world in our total foreign trade increased from 11 percent to 27 percent. Our goal is to reach 30 percent in 2028 and to rise further in the following years. Our President's leadership and guidance in trade diplomacy, his intense foreign diplomacy with both the public, the ministry and the private sector, and his trade diplomacies have enabled us to make great strides in our foreign trade and foreign trade with the Islamic world. This is just "Great progress has been achieved not only in the field of trade, but also in the investments we have attracted to Türkiye, investments from Türkiye, energy cooperation, transportation corridors and especially contracting services. Contracting projects worth approximately 520 billion dollars have been won in the last 24 years, many of them in Islamic countries."