Pakistan Turkey Economic & Political Relations
Dr.Syed Mehboob
Pakistan and Turkey are two brother Islamic countries. They are longstanding, time-tested deep rooted and all weathered friends. Both countries people’ hearts beat together. Both countries are active members of OIC, UNO and ECO .Both countries are strategic partners and are on same page on many regional and international issues. Turkish support for Kashmir cause gave enormous strength to the notion of Pakistan on the issue, Pakistan and Turkey’s relations are historical and its foundation was laid much before independence of Pakistan, when Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar and Maulana Shaukat Alai led the khilafat movement. Muslims extended their moral, political and financial support to Turkish brethren.
About Turkey
Turkey is a transcontinental country located mainly in western Asia, with smaller portion on the South East Europe on the Balkan Peninsula. Turkey is bordered by Greece land Bulgaria to its northwest, Georgia to northeast, Armenia, Azerbaijan exclave of Nakhchivan and Iran to the east, Iraq and Syria to the South. Istanbul is the largest city, Ankara is the capital.
Turkey is the founding member of United Nations, The OECD, The OIC, The OSCE, The ECO, and The BSEC. The G20. In 2012 Turkey became a dialogue partner of SCO, and in 2013 became a member of the ACD.
Turkey has the world’s 13th largest economy by GDP (PPP) and 17th largest by nominal GDP, the country is among the founding members of OECD and the G20.
Turkey has a sizeable automotive Industry, which produces over 1.3 million motor vehicles in 2015 ranking as the 14th largest producer in the world. Turkish brands like Beko and vestel are among the largest producers of consumers electronics in Europe, invest a substantial amount of funds for research and development in new technologies related to these fields. The economy of Turkey is defined as an emerging market economy by IMF. Turkey is among the world’s developed countries and is one of the newly industrialized countries. The country is among the world’s leading producers of agricultural products, textiles, motor vehicles, transportation equipment, construction materials, consumer electronics and home appliances. Turkey is the largest producer of hazelnuts, cherries, figs, apricots and pomegranates, the second largest producers of quinces and watermelons, the third largest producer of cucumbers, green peppers pistachios , the fourth largest producer of tomatoes, eggplants and olives, the fifth largest producer of tea, chick . Peas and sugar beet.
Turkey’s vestel is the largest TV producer in Europe. Vestel and Beko produced about half of the total TV sets of Europe. Turkey exported 1.14 million units of automotive in 2016. Turkish automotive companies like TEMSA, Otokar and MBC are among the world’s largest Van bus and truck manufacturers. Turkey recently launched domestically built new military/intelligence satellite including 0.8 m resolution reconnaissance satellite.
There are 90 airports including 22 international airports in Turkey. Istanbul Ataturk is the 11th busiest airport in the world, serving 31.83 million passengers. Turkish railway network is 10,991 km ranking 22nd in the world, including 2,133 km of electric track.
Tourism is one of the most dynamic and fastest developing sector in Turkey. According to travel agencies TUI AG and Thomas Cook, 11 out of 100 best hotels are located in Turkey. About 30 million tourists visit in Turkey every year contribute US$ 22 billion to Turkey’s revenue. Tourism contributes 1% of its GDP and provides 8% of the employment. Turkey has 17 UNESCO world heritage sites. Turkey has area of 783,562 sq. km with population of 81. 26 million.
Economic Data
GDP (PPP) : 2.186 trillion
GDP (official exchange rate) : 851.5 billion
GDP per capita (PPP) : 27,000
GDP composition by sector
Agriculture : 6.8%
Industry : 32.3%
Services : 60.7%
Exports : US$ 168.2 billion
Export partners : Germany 9.6%, UK 6.1%, UAE 5.9%,
Iraq 5.8%, Italy 5.4%, France 4.2%
Spain 4%
Export Commodities : Automobile, Apparel, Textiles,
Electronic appliances, transport and
Equipment
Import : $ 225.1 billion
Import Commodities : Machinery, chemicals, fuels
Import partners : China 10%, Germany 9.1%, Russia
8.5%, USA 5.1%, Italy 4.8 %
Trade Statistics with Pakistan
US$ million
Year Exports Imports Trade Balance
2008 586 155 431
2009 619 163 456
2010 750 248 502
2011 873 214 659
2012 555 276 279
2013 437 286 151
2014 436 259 177
2015 311 289 22
2016 263 347 (84)
2017 323 352 (29)
2018 330 360 (30)
Turkeys Top 10 trade items with World (2017)
Amount in billion
Import items Amount in billion US$
Mineral Fuels & Oil 37.19
Machinery and appliances 27.16
Electrical Machinery 21.16
Natural and Cultured pearls 17.44
Vehicles and other 17.43
Iron and steel 16.76
Organic chemicals 15.39
Optical Photo 5.10
Plastic products 4.45
Export Items Amounts in billion
Vehicles and other railway 23.95
Machinery and appliances 13.83
Natural and Cultured pearls 10.88
Apparel Knitted -8.85
Iron and Steel 8.24
Electrical machinery 8.10
Apparel not knitted 5.85
Mineral Fuels 4.33
Plastic and articles 4.25
Pakistan Turkey Top 10 Trading items
Pakistan’s export items Amount in million US$
Cotton 203
Apparel not knitted 19.19
Apparel knitted 15.49
Plastics and articles 14.91
Bevg Spirits and vinegar 14.20
Manmade fiber 7.43
Leather articles 6.00
Optical photo surgical 5.85
Raw hides and Skins 4.42
Oil seeds fruits etc. 4.41
Pakistan’s import items Amount in million US$
Machinery & apparel 94.19
Electronic machinery 22.41
Plastic and articles 19.03
Cotton 14.88
Miscellaneous Chemical products 12.18
Carpets and floor coverage 10.26
Mineral fuels & oils 9.31
Aluminum articles 9.27
Vehicles and other Railway accessories 7.87
Dairy products 7.67
Free Agreement between Pakistan and Turkey
Pakistan’s commerce minister Khurram Dastagir and Turkey’s Economy Minister Mustafa Elitas signed bilateral Free Trade agreement between Pakistan and Turkey. This agreement is at final stage and both countries have agreed to eliminate 85% of tariffs.
There are number of Turkish companies operating successfully in Pakistan like Bayinder, Enka, Tekers, Ulter, Bebek, Fashion, Halbayrak, Arcelik etc. Investment by Albayrak in Punjab, in the project of Metro Bus was widely lauded by Government and people of Pakistan. It is hoped that with the passage of time both countries would move forward to further enhance mutual cooperation and serious efforts would be done to enhance bilateral trade volume to mark the deep rooted friendship.