“Investment, economy, defense industries and other files” .. is the most prominent title of the files that will be on the table that will bring together Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Turkish and Emirati sources celebrated Erdogan’s visit to the UAE, describing it as a “historic” visit
One of the most important goals of the visit, according to official Turkish sources, is “to complete turning the page of tension between the two countries, strengthen economic partnership, discuss mechanisms for completing the Gulf reconciliation file, and discuss ways to find an approach between the Turkish and Emirati position towards the Libyan file, and the beginning of a new era of understandings in the Middle East in general.”
During the visit, 12 agreements will be signed that will enhance the positive atmosphere in the relations between the two countries in the fields of investment, media and communication, defense industries, land and sea transportation, comprehensive economic partnership, agriculture, industry, and advanced technologies, health, culture, youth, disaster and emergency management, and Meteorological.
The UAE is considered an important trading partner for Turkey, as the average annual volume of trade exchange between the two parties in the last decade is about $8 billion, and the UAE is classified as the first Gulf investor in Turkey, in addition to brotherly ties, history and common culture.
Details of the Turkish-Emirati agreements
The agreements signed between Turkey and the UAE include:
It includes cooperation in the field of investment, it includes a cooperation protocol in the fields of information and communication, and it includes signing a letter of intent regarding the start of cooperation meetings in the defense industries.
• Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the fields of land and sea transport.
• A joint statement on the start of negotiations regarding the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
• Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of agricultural cooperation.
• Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in industry and advanced technologies.
• Memoranda of Understanding regarding cooperation in the fields of health, culture, youth, in the field of disaster and emergency management, and in the field of meteorology.
The agreements signed between the two countries will enhance the positive atmosphere in Turkish-Emirati relations.
It is expected that this visit will yield important results and implications, as it is not just a protocol visit by a state leader, rather, it is a breakthrough towards positive Turkish-Emirati relations, a Turkish-Gulf future, and one of the reasons for completing the Gulf reconciliation, especially since the Turkish-Qatari relations are going through their best conditions, in addition to the Emirati openness to Qatar and the occurrence of more than one Qatari-Emirati meeting to activate the results of the Al-Ula meeting. According to official Turkish sources.
Emirati investment in Turkey
Since 2003, Turkey has been able to attract direct investments from all over the world amounting to nearly 165 billion dollars in many fields, from industry to finance, from energy to transportation, and from mining to retail. From the beginning of 2003 until the end of September 2020, the United Arab Emirates ranked first in the Arab world, with direct investments amounting to $4.3 billion.
The direct investments of the Gulf countries in Turkey diversified in many fields, from industry to finance, and from retail to media. Gulf investments amounted to about $11.4 billion during the aforementioned 18 years, while the UAE ranked first after its investments amounted to about $4.3 billion, followed by Qatar in second place with $2.7 billion, Saudi Arabia in third place with $2 billion, and Kuwait ranked Fourth, $1.9 billion.
A win-win relationship between the two parties
Turkish sources stress that it is no secret to decision-makers in Turkey and the UAE that the relations between the two countries in their normal state are a win-win relationship, especially in the security and economic file.
This comes as Turkey is a not reckless Middle Eastern country that deals with the foreign policy file slowly and without emotional decisions, as long as it has been accepted and respected by the Arab Gulf states, as well as considerations of brotherhood and common history, which is a major driver of rapprochement between the UAE and Turkey.
In 2021, the total value of non-oil trade between the two countries amounted to $13.7 billion, an increase of 54 percent over 2020, and an increase of 86 percent over 2019.
Observers believe that if Turkey plays a pivotal role in reaching Europe, this will increase the volume of trade between (Turkey and the UAE), and that the UAE presence in the African coasts can increase Turkey’s economic channels extending in the region, and the UAE may also wish to benefit from Turkish progress. In the defense industries sector, it would not be surprising if the UAE wanted to invest in this sector or buy equipment and weapons, especially drones.
President Erdoğan’s visit to the UAE is the first since 2013, during which he is accompanied by a large delegation that includes the foreign ministers, the interior ministers, the Finance Ministry, the Trade Ministry, the Industry Ministry, the Technology Ministry, the Transport Ministry, the Infrastructure Ministry, the Culture Ministry, the Tourism Ministry, the Agriculture, and Forestry Ministry, in addition to the head of the Defense Industries Authority.
The reflection of the Turkish-Gulf relations on the real estate and tourism sectors
The management of the OmranTrk company, headquartered in the city of Yalova, northwest of Turkey, believes that the recovery of Turkish-Emirati or Gulf relations in general will have a positive impact on the real estate market and even on the investment, tourism and other sectors.
OmranTrk stresses that the real estate sector in “Yalova” is witnessing unprecedented activity, and the reason is the importance of “Yalova”, whether because of its geographical location or the importance that the Turkish government, led by President Erdogan, attaches to this city, which made it an important investment destination.
OmranTrk is one of the Arab companies that succeeded in leaving its mark in the Turkish society within a short period of its launch, with the testimony of a number of Arab and Turkish personalities.
