Currently, the Habur border gate serves as the only crossing between the two neighbors.
Sharing details of government plans to foster trade with the southern neighbor during a meeting with Sinan Çelebi, trade and commerce minister of the Kurdish regional administration in northern Iraq, Çağlayan said a new border gate with Iraq could be opened in the southeastern province of Şırnak’s Şinova or Ovaköy districts. The minister declined to reveal an exact date for the opening of the new gate. “Turkey needs a second and maybe third border gate with Iraq. We have recently discussed opening a customs gate in the Iraqi province of Arbil with the Iraqi government,” he stated.
Recalling that Turkey’s exports to Iraq reached $5 billion last year, Çağlayan said they expected to increase mutual trade volume with this country to $20 billion in 2013. Mentioning outstanding debts owed to Turkish contractors in Iraq, the minister said the government was following developments and expected that problems will be resolved shortly. “There is much more work that our contractors will undertake in Iraq,” he noted.
Speaking also at the meeting, Çelebi said they see Turkey as the opening gate to the outside world for Iraq and are committed to strengthening ties with this neighbor. “Sixty-five of 150 foreign investors in northern Iraq are Turkish entrepreneurs, and we accept them as our local firms,” he said. Regarding plans for opening a Ziraat Bankası branch in Arbil, the minister said studies are under way to this end and that they believe this will contribute to the development of relations.
Meanwhile, Çağlayan informed reporters that Turkey’s exports surged by 28.6 percent in the first three weeks of March when compared to the same period of 2009. The minister said exports between March 1 and 21 amounted to $6.1 billion. The total amount of exports between Jan. 1 and March 21 had reached $22.2 billion, he added.
