Erdogan seeks to attract $25 billion in investments from the Gulf states

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to attract more foreign investments and hard currency from the Gulf countries, to boost his country's economy, which is suffering from a scarcity of the dollar and a sharp decline in the value of the Turkish lira.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is heading to the UAE within days on an announced visit, to strengthen his relationship with one of the richest countries in the Middle East, as reports indicate his intention to visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Türkiye targets $25 billion from the Gulf

The Turkish government aims to attract investments worth $25 billion from the Gulf countries through several channels such as privatizations and acquisitions, according to Bloomberg.

On March 3, 2023, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan witnessed the signing of the comprehensive economic partnership agreement between the UAE and Turkey, according to a statement, building an economic bridge with solid foundations from Europe to North Africa, and from Russia to the Gulf.

The UAE targets $40 billion in trade with Türkiye

The Minister of State for Foreign Trade in the UAE, Thani Al-Zuwaidi, said on May 31, 2023 that his country had ratified the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Turkey in preparation for its activation.

Al-Zuwaidi added that the agreement will contribute to the growth and prosperity of non-oil trade between the two countries to more than $40 billion annually over 5 years.

The agreement aims to cancel or reduce customs duties on 82% of goods and products. Which more than 93% of non-oil intra-trade components.

$5 billion currency exchange

On January 19, 2022, the Turkish Central Bank signed a currency swap agreement (SWAP) with the UAE Central Bank worth 18 billion dirhams ($5 billion), in a move by the Gulf country to support Turkey's economy.

The Turkish Central Bank said in a statement at the time that this agreement is for a period of three years, with the possibility of extending its validity period by agreement of the two parties, and it also enhances financial cooperation between the two countries through the development of mutual trade.

A $10 billion fund

On November 24, 2021, the UAE announced the establishment of a $10 billion fund to support investments in Turkey, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

The fund focuses on strategic investments, mainly the logistics sectors, including energy, health and food.

A Saudi deposit of $5 billion

On March 6, 2023, the Saudi Fund for Development announced, on Monday, that the Kingdom had signed an agreement with Ankara to deposit $5 billion in the Central Bank of Turkey through it.

According to Reuters, on June 3, 2023, the net foreign exchange reserves of the Turkish Central Bank rose to $9.19 billion in the week ending June 23, in its largest weekly increase ever, after ceasing to use the reserves to support the lira.

Giant Qatari investments in Türkiye

As for Qatar, the investment office of the Turkish presidency revealed that the balance of foreign direct investment from Qatar to Turkey amounted to about $10.3 billion in 2021, according to the Qatari Al-Sharq newspaper on September 18, 2023, saying that Qatar is one of the largest foreign investors in Turkey.

On December 23, 2023, Reuters predicted that Qatar would buy Turkish international bonds worth two billion dollars in January 2023, in implementation of a previous agreement aimed at supporting Ankara's foreign exchange reserves.