According to figures provided by the Ministry of Trade in Ankara, trade with Italy reached 21.3 billion dollars in 2011, an increase of 28% on the previous year’s figure (16.7 billion). This makes our country Turkey’s 4th trading partner, after Germany, the Russian Federation and China, and just ahead of the United States. Our exports amounted to 13.45 billion dollars (up 32.63%) and imports to 7.85 billion (up 20.76%). Investments also performed well, reaching 110 million dollars in the first six months of 2012, a record increase of 189% over the same period in 2011 (38 million).
New initiatives by our Embassy.
936 Italian enterprises operate in Turkey, 3 of them established in June 2012. These results have been possible thanks not least to a recent period of particularly close Italian-Turkish relations. This saw excellent results at the second bilateral inter-governmental summit held in Rome on 8 May 2012, and a trade mission organised by Confindustria, the Italian business federation, and the National Trade Institute. The Farnesina and our Embassy in Ankara have also contributed to these successes.
The Embassy supports Italian companies interested in doing business in Turkey, and Turkish businesses interested in Italy. Initiatives by the Embassy include new procedures to speed up visa applications and a mapping exercise to identify wholly or partly Italian-owned companies in Turkey. This will create an up-to-date snapshot of our economic-commercial presence in the country.
