President Erdoğan: We share mutual will with Colombia to advance our relations in all areas
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Iván Duque Márquez of Colombia held a joint press conference following their meeting at the Dolmabahçe Presidential Office in Istanbul.
Expressing his pleasure over hosting President Duque Márquez of Colombia, which he noted was among the countries that were Türkiye’s most important partners in Latin America and the Caribbean region, President Erdoğan said: “With the joint declaration we have just signed, we have elevated the relations between our countries to the level of ‘strategic partnership’. By means of the high level cooperation council mechanism, we will discuss at the highest level our bilateral relations during the meetings we will hold biennially as the presidents.”
“WE EXERT INTENSIVE EFFORTS TO INCREASE OUR MUTUAL INVESTMENTS”
Stating that currently Colombia was Türkiye’s second biggest trade partner following Brazil in Latin America, President Erdoğan noted: “Our bilateral trade volume increased twofold in 2021 and exceeded 2 billion dollars. Also, Colombia was one of the countries to which we increased our exports the most last year. Our goal is to increase our bilateral trade volume to 5 billion dollars as soon as possible. We exert intensive efforts to increase our mutual investments as well. With its growing economy, Colombia offers favorable opportunities for Turkish investments.”
“WE WORK TO ENHANCE OUR COOPERATION IN MANY AREAS”
President Erdoğan further stated: “We share mutual will with Colombia to advance our relations in all areas, both on bilateral and international platforms. We work together to enhance our cooperation in many areas, including defense industry, healthcare, tourism, agriculture and migration. We, as two countries that are affected the most by irregular migration, attach importance to cooperation in especially the issue of migration. We will endeavor together in order to resolve this global problem by means of the joint initiatives we will launch on international platforms. Furthermore, we will enhance our cooperation in combatting drug trafficking, terror and organized crimes. We have thus far provided 177 Colombian students with education in our country through Türkiye scholarships. Today, we also discussed recent regional and international developments.”
