Companies in Turkey are exploring other means to increase the variety of its export products to Qatar, an official of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) has said. According to TIM chairman Ismail Gulle, Turkish exports with high demand in Qatar include furniture, construction materials, garments, animal products, and groups of products, such as jewelry made from precious metals. ‘Turkey is among the world's producers that have a say in this product group. Turkey is a strong, innovative, and experienced manufacturer, which is explains the prominence of these products in our trade with Qatar,' Gulle told Gulf Times. Gulle stressed that passenger cars, electrical conductors, cotton or woven clothing products, are some of the products considered as having ‘serious potential' exports to Qatar.
Also, export products of the same caliber include construction materials made of iron and steel, as well as bakery products, among other product groups. ‘Turkish exporters will evaluate the trade potential in these products and product groups in the upcoming period,' Gulle pointed out. Gulle stressed that Qatar remains an attractive export market for Turkish companies, saying both countries share deep ties in terms of culture and history. He said, ‘In recent years, these deep ties have gained a multidimensional structure from security to investments, from political relations to energy, and they have been crowned with tremendous success in commodity trade.' Gulle said Qatar-Turkey trade volume ‘increased a hundredfold' from $13.7mn in 2001 to over $1.3bn in 2019. This increase has been effective on the course of the development process in the economic structure of Turkey and Qatar, he said.
The increase in Turkey's production capacity and expansion of its product range were among the main reasons for the increase of Turkey's exports to Qatar from $7.9mn in 2001 to $1.2bn in 2019. In 2020, Gulle said Turkey's exports to Qatar's chemical substances and products sector reached $119.6mn, and $81mn for the furniture, paper and wood products industry. Its exports in the electrical-electronics sector stood at $77.3mn in the same period. Gulle said, ‘In 2020, the sectors with the highest year-on-year increase in exports are the textile and raw materials sector, which increased by 51.1% from $6.4mn to $9.8mn; the apparel and ready-to-wear sector, which grew by 31.1% from $58mn to $76.1mn; and the conditioning industry sector, witnessing 24% growth from $28.7mn to $35.6mn. ‘Qatar, especially its capital Doha, is one of the most important showcases in the world. Therefore, it is an attractive commercial choice for Turkish companies to operate in Qatar and to showcase its quality products. ‘Turkey is expanding its presence in different sectors where there is a strong export market in Qatar. For example, one of the world's largest manufacturers of the textile sector in Turkey, which supplies quality products in Qatar, is expanding its textile market,' Gulle said.