Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Friday called on Turkish businesses to make investments in the South American country of Venezuela.
Speaking at the opening session of the third meeting of the Venezuela-Turkey Joint Cooperation Commission, Çavuşoğlu said that he evaluated the trade relations between the two countries with the Venezuelan Vice-President Tareck El Aissami.
He said that they discussed a wide range of relations during the meeting in presence of the ministers of tourism, health, education, and fisheries.
"Our friends are making great efforts to make these meetings and mechanisms successful," he added.
Stating that they continue to work in line with the opinions received from experts on issues such as transportation, tourism, development, agriculture, migration, and security, the top Turkish diplomat said that they have completed negotiations on agreements in the fields of industry, tourism, fisheries, youth, and sports.
The agreements will be signed in the presence of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the closing session, said Çavuşoğlu.
"The increase in our trade has increased our hopes for the future. We encourage Turkish businesspeople to invest in Venezuela," he said.
Aissami thanked Çavuşoğlu for his visit.
"We make productive, prosperous, mutual investments for our peoples," he said.
"Turkey struggles to protect and defend world peace. It encourages us to work together in building a more just world," said the Venezuelan vice-president.
In his closing remarks, Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey stands beside Venezuela.
"Our trade has increased by approximately 300% in 2021, compared to the previous year. Despite the distance between us, we rank Turkey first in Venezuela's exports. When we look at the figures in the first three months, we see that we will easily reach the $ 1.5 billion target," he said.
"I would like to emphasize once again that we strongly oppose sanctions against Venezuela. We will continue to stand by the friendly country Venezuela," he added.
Turning to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Çavuşoğlu said: "I would like to once again share the greetings of President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to you and the people of Venezuela. We are waiting for you in Turkey as soon as possible."
"Your close friendship and strong will to develop cooperation carries us forward in every field. Your mutual visits in 2018 were a turning point in our relations," he added.
Çavuşoğlu said that seven agreements and a mutual declaration have been signed during the meeting.
Stating that they want to sign agreements in the fields of health, fisheries, and tourism during Maduro's visit to Turkey, Çavuşoğlu stated that Turkey will do its part with its institutions.
Speaking at the closing session of the Venezuela-Turkey Joint Cooperation Commission, President Maduro hailed the Turkish government for facilitating talks between Russia and Ukraine and wished success in the process.
He said that Turkey has helped Venezuela when it needed the most, referring to the medical aid extended by Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We have established very strong political and diplomatic relations based on trust in the recent years between Turkey and Venezuela," said Maduro adding Turkey opposed the sanctions against his country.
He also called on Turkish investors to come to Venezuela.
"Venezuela has now started to recover; it is now advancing step by step with its efforts. Let Turkish investors come here and invest because we have a very wide economic portfolio. It's time for the Turks to invest here," he said.
He said he will visit Turkey soon.
"I think we maximized this joint commission. We have signed many agreements in various fields. I will go to Turkey to address all these issues, to accelerate cooperation, and to shake the hand of my dear friend Erdoğan," he added.
"We love Turkey. We are real friends of Turkey. Venezuela is Turkey's best friend. Long live Venezuela-Turkey relationship, long live friendship, long live peace, long live cooperation," he said.
