U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross called on American businesses to invest in Turkey.
As part of his visit to Turkey, Ross attended the Executive Committee Meeting organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK) and the Turkey-U.S. Business Council (TAIK).
During the meeting, Ross noted that businesses should invest in Turkey rather than China, which was met with a positive response from attendees.
Ross pointed that Turkey is more advantageous than China for American companies, adding that governments can remove obstacles to trade, but that the private sector must lead the initiative.
Ross also expressed his dissatisfaction with the current level of Turkish-American cooperation, stressing the need for coordination between private businesses as well.
Turkey asked the United States to lift trade barriers between the two countries during talks on Saturday aimed at sharply increasing bilateral commerce, Turkey's trade minister said.
Washington and Ankara have set an ambitious goal of quadrupling their trade to $100 billion a year, despite the prospect of U.S. sanctions over Turkey's recent purchase of Russian missile defense systems.
Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said she expressed Turkey's "clear expectation" to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross over the removal of "certain barriers and policies as implemented by the U.S. administration that constitute (an) obstacle to enhancing our bilateral trade."
The U.S. embassy said Ross and Pekcan had agreed that raising trade to $100 billion would require hard work on both sides. The United States says trade with Turkey totaled $24 billion in 2017, with the U.S. surplus standing at $1.5 billion.
The two ministers are due to hold further talks in Ankara next week.
