Turkey seeks to improve trade with Brazil

Brazil’s Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos França hosted a 30-minute talk on Monday with his counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu of Turkey. 

The Brazilian Foreign Affairs Ministry did not comment on the meeting. Per statements by the Turkish government, Brazil’s chancellor and Mr. Çavuşoğlu held a meeting focused on defense, tourism, culture, and matters of technical cooperation.

The Turkish cabinet minister indicated both countries will ramp up their trade partnership to a total of USD 10 billion in the coming future. “We believe we can easily achieve this goal,” he said after the meeting with Mr. França.

Today, Turkey is Brazil’s 18th-largest commercial partner, while the latter is Turkey’s biggest source of Latin American trade by some distance. The trade relationship between the two countries is a lot more favorable to Brazil, which exported USD 3.15 billion to Turkey last year — mostly soybeans and cotton — while buying just USD 1.27 billion, largely in steel and chemical products. 

The visit from Mr. Çavuşoğlu suggests good things for relations between Brasília and Ankara. The cabinet minister visited São Paulo on Sunday to inaugurate a new Turkish consulate — the goal of which is to become the country’s “headquarters” in Latin America.

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