The Corona pandemic has greatly affected Trade Between Turkey and Arab Countries, due to the closure that Turkey imposed to contain the situation to reduce the spread of the virus as much as possible, and thus the impact appeared on all kinds of Turkey exports

Trade between Turkey and Arab countries

After Turkey implemented the closure measures to contain the Coronavirus,

 the goods trade had suffered from a significant loss of up to 18.3% in 2020, as confirmed by statistics in March, and Turkish imports decreased by more than 25 % compared to the previous year 2019.

As for the Middle East and North Africa region, it contributed to reducing the Turkish exports up to 10%, and according to the statistics, it affected 41 % of the annual basis of Turkey, and the statistics confirmed that some European countries also had impacted besides the Middle East.

This strong influence is due to the presence of a large group of merchants in the Middle East and European countries, with the establishment of global trade chains for the State of Turkey, which was greatly affected after the Coronavirus pandemic.

 

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Can Arab countries influence Turkey's economy?

Of course, trade between Turkey and the Arab countries has a strong and effective impact on the economy of Turkey, according to statistics, the average amount of trade exchange between them is 30 billion dollars annually.

The influence of the Arab countries does not stop only from the commercial aspect, but the number of tourists coming to Turkey from the Arab countries is very large, in addition to the Arab investments that have been established in Turkey, therefore they are a winning pressure card in the hands of the Arab countries.

Trade exchange between Turkey and Arab countries

Turkey relies heavily on its exports to Arab countries, where according to the Turkish Statistical Institute,19% of Turkey's exports at the beginning of 2019 was to the number of Arab countries which brings the annual trade exchange between them to 50 billion dollars.

One of the most important things that countries are looking for is to agree to a cooperation strategy protocol between the Arab countries and Turkey to enhance trade opportunities between them, and to increase the amount of trade exchange between them with an almost constant annual increase.

In addition to achieving an increase in the level of investment and economic exchange to raise a level that suits the size of the large human and material resources that characterize Turkey and most Arab countries.

Turkish Exports

Reliable sources in the Turkish Ministry of Commerce confirmed that the volume of exports and imports is unstable, as it witnessed a significant decrease in the number of imports, and on the contrary, the percentage of exports in 2019 before the outbreak of the Corona pandemic increased by 2% compared to the previous year, but it witnessed a noticeable decrease after that.

One of the most important reasons for the decrease in Turkey's exports to Arab countries is the lack of good policy and diplomacy with those countries, especially those that have a strong economy and a great influence on their economy through the imports of those countries from Turkey.

The most influential countries can be listed due to their impact on reducing the number of Turkey's exports by approximately one billion dollars compared to previous years.

Which are :

  • United Arab Emirates
  • Arab Republic of Egypt
  • Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

According to the statistics and calculations made about the three mentioned countries, the following points were clarified:

  • The percentage of Turkey's exports to Egypt decreased by up to 23% after it recorded the highest amount of imports, which amounted to three billion dollars, and Egypt's exports to Turkey decreased by 20%.
  • And the UAE’s imports from Turkey were the highest drop among the mentioned countries, reaching 70 %, after recording about nine billion dollars in 2017. While it maintained its exports to Turkey, not only at the same level but increased to five billion dollars.
  • Saudi Arabia had an average rate of decline in imports from Turkey after reaching $3 billion, and its exports decreased at almost the same level.

Turkish Imports

 

Turkey depends in its economy on imports from many Arab countries that were able to influence it due to the difference in trade between Turkey and the Arab countries, and the following mentions the impact of some countries on Turkey:

 

  • Algeria was among the countries whose exports to Turkey decreased by 20%, although it ranked seventh in the countries that export to Turkey.

 

  • We also find that Tunisia had almost the same drop in exports to Turkey after it was ranked 12th among the exporting countries.

 

  • This is in contrast to the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, which increased their exports to Turkey in the recent period, as we mentioned before.

 

  • Iraq was one of the countries that supported Turkey the most, and this is by increasing its exports to Turkey by an amount of up to 8 billion dollars, and it may increase slightly to raise the percentage to 206%.

 

  • Libya followed the same approach as Iraq, occupying the highest ranks of exporting countries to Turkey, with 246 %.

 

  • The Arab countries exporting to Turkey can be limited to 17 countries, where the exports of eight of them decreased, but did not affect the overall rate, as the exports of the remaining nine increased by a large percentage.

 

  • Turkey's imports from Arab countries increased by more than 7 billion dollars, increasing by more than 50%.

 

These statistics were obtained from the data of the Turkish Statistical Institute, and thus the Arab countries were able to reduce the trade deficit with Turkey by an amount of up to nine billion dollars during the year 2019.

 

The Arab countries were able to influence Turkey regarding the issue of Syria by putting pressure on it by exploiting trade between Turkey and the Arab countries by controlling the rates of exports and imports to and from Turkey. It is subject to tourist trips and Arab investment owners in Turkey.

Read: Tourism in Turkey

in this article, we spoke about the Trade Between Turkey and Arab Countries, the import and export ratio, and the influence of those countries on Turkey's economy.