Turkey Syria Economic Relations & Opportunities Meeting

The “Turkey Syria Economic Relations & Opportunities Meeting” was held in the Dicle Development Agency Meeting Hall with the participation of Dr. Hakan YURDAKUL, Member of the Presidential Economic Policy Board.

The meeting was attended by Nusaybin Chamber of Commerce and Industry Assembly Member Mr. Şükrü AKBAL, Kızıltepe Commodity Exchange Board Chairman Mr. Mehmet ŞAHİN, Kızıltepe Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice Chairman Mr. İbrahim Halil RAMAZANOĞLU, Nusaybin Commodity Exchange Board Chairman Mr. Necdet AKTAŞ, Mardin Chamber of Commerce Board Members, Civil Society Organizations, Food, Furniture, Textile Sector Representatives and Syrian Businessmen residing in Mardin.

Our province has a 150 km border line with Syria and there are two customs gates on this border line. Şenyurt Customs Gate (Derbesiye), which has been closed for more than 40 years due to security reasons, and Nusaybin Customs Gate (Kamışlı), which was open to export and transit passage before the civil war and was the gateway to the Middle East, have been closed for security reasons since the war.

Mardin has a strategic location in the southeast of Turkey and has significant potential for the logistics sector, especially due to its proximity to the Middle East. If the Nusaybin and Şenyurt Customs Gates are opened, it is important for the supply chain to be provided faster and trade with Syria to be more effective. Considering both time and cost, opening these gates and providing supply from Mardin will be advantageous. At the same time, providing customs storage and preservation services in the shortest time will also facilitate both dry and fresh food supply.’’

The meeting continued with the presentation of Turkey-Syria Economic Relations & Opportunities by Dr. Hakan YURDAKUL, Member of the Presidency’s Economic Policies Board. In the presentation; Syria's Foreign Trade Partners, Product Shares in Foreign Trade, Turkey's Syria Export Potential, Turkey's Iraq & Syria's GCC Export, Syrians in Education and Health Tourism were touched upon.

Following the meeting, the participants were given the right to speak and the following problems were addressed.

Nusaybin Border Gate (Qamishli) is closed,

Provision of a commitment for security purposes

Implementation of the customs tax law applied in exports in the United Arab Emirates,

Nusaybin Border Gate (Qamishli) should be opened as soon as possible for the logistics sector and supply services to be provided faster,

The railway should be put into operation as the cost of highways has increased,

SPP projects should be supported for energy problems,

Syria should be added among the 55 target market countries within the scope of the project supports provided by the Ministry of Trade,

Security should be ensured for the construction sector to be started,