halil wrote:Turkey, Brazil cement strategic partnership with focus on trade
An ongoing strategic partnership between Turkey and Brazil was boosted with a series of prominent trade agreements sealed during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to the country this week.
One of the most important deals signed during Erdoğan's visit was an agreement to prevent double taxation -- signed on Thursday -- which is expected to benefit and ease procedures for investors from both countries. Turkey and Brazil already enjoy a recently concluded free trade agreement (FTA) between Turkey and the four-nation trading bloc Mercosur, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Another important portion of the visit was the First Turkey Export Goods Fair, organized by the İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) in Sao Paolo. Around 151 Turkish firms had the opportunity to promote their products to the Mercosur region at the fair, which took place this week.
Both members of the United Nations Security Council and G20, Turkey and Brazil have in the past few years intensified their quest to improve relations and contribute to global peace with enhanced political cooperation. The most recent example to this was a nuclear fuel swap deal signed between Iran, Turkey and Brazil. Economic relations between the world’s 10th and 17th largest economies also benefited from such cooperation; Brazil’s Petrobras has been carrying out joint oil research activities with the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) in the Black Sea since last year.
Erdoğan, who started his official visit early on Wednesday, was accompanied by several Cabinet ministers and a group of Turkish businessmen. He participated in a forum of the Alliance of Civilizations hosted by his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The prime minister also participated in a Turkish-Brazilian Business Forum.
Erdoğan met with some of the leading business figures in Brazil, visited Embraer, the third biggest aircraft factory in the world, and attended the inauguration ceremony of Turkey’s new Consulate General in Sao Paulo on Wednesday. Erdoğan is the first Turkish prime minister to visit Brazil.
Erdoğan said on Wednesday that “a new period starts between Turkey and Brazil today.” “We are aiming to improve bilateral relations between Turkey and Brazil with this strategic partnership,” Erdoğan said at a Turkey-Brazil business forum in Sao Paolo. Recalling that Turkey managed to overcome the global financial crisis last year with relatively little damage, the prime minister said active initiatives in foreign policy had positive reflections on foreign trade. “As Turkey served peace in its region with the ‘zero problems with neighbors’ approach, it gained the confidence of the neighboring countries as a resource of compromise and mediation. We have broadened the axis of foreign trade and commercial relations to a great extent,” he explained. Erdoğan stressed the government has been endeavoring to boost cooperation with Latin America.
“Brazil is Turkey’s main trade partner in Latin America. Turkey’s trade volume with Brazil, which was $1.7 billion in 2008, dropped to $1.4 billion in 2009 with the impact of the global financial crisis. The figures in question do not reflect the real potential. The Turkish and Brazilian governments are determined to increase bilateral trade volume,” Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan also said the government is content with developing cooperation in energy with Brazil.
Addressing Brazilian businessmen, Erdoğan said Turkey, which has a central geographical position where one can reach over 52 countries in a three-hour flight, offers vast business opportunities. “Thanks to the direct Turkish Airlines [THY] flights from Sao Paulo to Istanbul which started last year, transportation to markets in Turkey’s region has become easier for Brazilian businessmen than in the past. I also believe that the construction sector will play an important role in boosting economic and commercial cooperation between our countries,” Erdoğan said.
Following his address, Erdoğan was presented with a medal by the Sao Paulo Industry Federation for his contributions to industry.
Çağlayan: Turkey, Brazil not competitors but partners
Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Çağlayan , who accompanied Erdoğan to Brazil, on Wednesday said that Turkey and Brazil were not competitors but two countries which had numerous sectors that complemented each other.
Speaking in Sao Paulo, Çağlayan said they had the opportunity to discuss the most promising fields of investments between Turkey and Brazil during the visit. Noting that last year’s crisis caused a 20 percent decrease in the two countries’ foreign trade, Çağlayan said: “The diplomatic cooperation between Turkey and Brazil should benefit economic ties as well. Turkish and Brazilian businessmen could cooperate in economic areas in third countries.”
Çağlayan said the foreign trade volume between Turkey and Brazil did not reflect the real potential, adding that free trade agreements were of great importance for an improvement of economic relations.
Brazil’s Minister of Development, Industry & Trade Miguel Joao Jorge Filho said the two countries could improve their relations in many areas, noting their ties had become significantly stronger during the last year. Filho listed potential areas of cooperation including the energy, infrastructure, aviation, automotive and foodstuff sectors.
Turkish firms eye boost in investments in Brazil
Encouraged by the “opening of a new page” in relations with Brazil, Turkish entrepreneurs said they expect to increase the volume of their investments.
Turkey’s Aktas Group, a manufacturer of air suspension systems and bellows, is one of these companies; it aims to raise its investments in Brazil to $15 million. Aktaş Group Chairman Şahap Aktaş told the Anatolia news agency that the group had $5 million of investments in Brazil and it expected to raise this to $15 million over the next three years.
“We established a factory in Brazil two years ago with an investment of $5 million to produce air suspension bellows for busses and cargo trucks,” Aktas told Anatolia.
Also speaking to Anatolia, Çimsa General Manager Huseyin Ozkan said the company earned $6 million from its exports to Brazil in 2009 and aimed to raise this figure to $8 million this year.
“We want to grow more by opening new factories in the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa,” he said.
A leading Turkish furniture firm, Çilek Mobilya, is another Turkish company investing in Brazil. It recently signed an agreement with Brazilian furniture chain Etna. “Etna has almost 70 shops in Brazil and our products will now be sold in these shops,” Çilek Mobilya official Okan Çekmegeli said. Kerem Vaizoğlu from Turkey’s Ekinciler Iron and Steel Company said the company started exporting to Brazil in 2009, becoming the first company to export construction iron to Brazil. Vaizoğlu said the company earned $40 million from its exports to Brazil in 2009 and wanted to raise that figure to $60 million this year.
Turkey’s Akkim chemical company is also investing in Brazil. Sadullah Altuntaş, the sales director of the company, said Akkim wanted to establish an office in Brazil and aimed to have annual turnover of $1 million.
28 May 2010, Friday
TODAY’S ZAMAN İSTANBUL
Is that the reasons America scares.........they don't like others to stand independently from them.... world waking up ......... so Turkey also waking up.
America has had it economically, she is on a downward slide to nowhere.
Does anybody want to buy a house in USA for less than 1000 dollars?
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhom ... ource=web#
Is there a level of measure for “political superiority” with which to compare countries?
