The “New Horizons of Cooperation 2022” meeting, organized to improve the commercial and economic relations between Turkiye and Russia, brought together business people from the two countries in Antalya.
The meeting, organized in cooperation with the Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO) and Russia’s business and economy newspaper Kommersant, was held at ATSO Ataturk Conference Hall.
ATSO Chairman of the Board Davut Cetin, in his speech here, stated that trade and tourism serve world peace by bringing countries closer.
Expressing that the relations between Antalya and the people of Russia have reached a very special dimension, Cetin said that tens of thousands of Russian origin Antalya residents live in the city, and one fifth of the more than 5 thousand foreign capital members registered to the chamber are of Russian origin.
Stating that Russian business people operate in many sectors from tourism to yacht production in the city, Cetin said:
“I believe that the meeting will strengthen the friendship between our countries and contribute to the increase of our trade. Russia is one of the most important partners of our country and our city in foreign trade and tourism. Although our exports to Russia as Antalya appeared to be 160 million dollars last year, this figure is higher with our exports from other provinces. Nearly half of our foreign visitors are Russian citizens. These strong ties also show that we can establish stronger relations in the economy.”
Naki Karaaslan, President of the Russian-Turkish Businessmen’s Union, also stated that Russia is trying to isolate it with the sanctions of the West.
Pointing out that the plans in the field of economy should be made in the long term, Karaaslan said, “The problems between Russia and the West seem to last for a long time. It would not be nice to call this an opportunity. The war will not be opportunistic, but the developments will further increase the economic cooperation between Turkiye and Russia. In this respect, Antalya is a special place for Russians.”
Source: Sabah / Translated by Irem Yildiz