ANKARA: While the volume of investments made by Brazilian companies in Turkey has risen to top $700 million, Brazil-bound Turkish investments hover around $35 million, Antonio Luis Espinola Salgado, the Brazilian ambassador to Turkey, has said, stressing that both countries should exert more effort to improve mutual business ties.
Speaking at a local “Business Opportunities Meeting” held in southeastern province of Gaziantep on Friday, the ambassador said that, while Brazil is known for its carnivals, coffee and football stars, it is also the seventh largest economy and the third largest aircraft manufacturer in the world.
Acknowledging that trade volume has greatly increased between the two countries over the last 14 years, the ambassador pointed out that the distribution of investments is uneven. Salgado emphasized the potential benefits of increased trade, and encouraged Turkish companies to invest further in Brazil.
At the same event, Brazil’s honorary consul in Gaziantep, Murat Kökoğlu, maintained that the trade volume between Turkey and Brazil has not yet reached mutually desirable levels, and reiterated, “While Turkish exports to Brazil amounted to $1 million in 2014, imports from Brazil amounted to just above $2 billion.” Kökoğlu added:
“The amount of exports from Gaziantep to Brazil, which was $8.3 million in 2010, surged to $18 million in 2011 and further, to $18.5 million in 2014. Our exports to Brazil are too low because the countries are not well enough acquainted. If we succeed in bringing honest and reliable businesspeople together, our trade with Brazil will rapidly increase.”
