ISTANBUL (XINHUA) – Turkiye and the Arab world pledged to enhance their financial cooperation at the International Arab Banking Summit started on Thursday in Turkiye’s largest city, Istanbul.
Organised by the Union of Arab Banks, the summit convened key stakeholders from governments and the business world to delve into avenues for bolstering cooperation and surmounting challenges by tapping the potential.
Addressing the summit, Turkiye’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency Chairman Sahap Kavcioglu said he believed the summit would help enhance financial communication and boost such cooperation.
In the speech live-broadcasted by local media, he said that the total assets managed by Arab countries in Turkiye amount to TRY3.8 trillion, and they have a share in eight banks operating in the country.
Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said at the summit that great cooperation potential, especially in tourism, defence industry and other fields, awaited to be unleashed from implementing free trade agreements between his country and those in the Arab world. Union of Arab Banks Secretary General Wissam H Fattouh highlighted the keen interest of Arab banks to delve into the Turkish financial market, stressing that the union receives numerous requests from Arab banks expressing interest in investing in Turkiye.
“The trade cooperation amounting to USD72 billion between Turkiye and the Arab world underscores the attractiveness of Turkiye for Arab banks,” Fattouh was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu agency.
Established in 1974 as a pan-Arab organisation to represent the Arab banking and financial community, the union has 20 members from Arab countries.
