Finland-Türkiye Joint Economic and Trade Commission meeting held in Helsinki

On February 26, the second Finland-Türkiye Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO) meeting took place in Helsinki. Minister for Foreign Trade and Development of Finland Mr. Ville Tavio hosted the Turkish delegation headed by Professor Dr. Ömer BOLAT, Minister of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye. During the various sessions, the delegations reviewed the recent developments in their bilateral economic and trade relations, and exchanged ideas for enhancing the bilateral economic partnership. While the Finland-Türkiye bilateral trade boasted four consecutive record years of growth in 2020-2023, hitting almost EUR 2.7 billion in trade volume in 2023, last year saw the record streak come to an end.

To pave the way for future growth, Minister Tavio highlighted the strong cooperation between Finland and Türkiye in the areas of sustainable textiles, steel industry decarbonization and global infrastructure projects. Türkiye has a long tradition in textile industry, while the Finnish textile and clothing industry is boldly renewing the entire global scene and setting a new, sustainable direction. Finland has many innovations and technologies, which can work together with leading Turkish textile and apparel companies.

Regarding steel industry decarbonization, Türkiye plays an important role as the eighth largest steel producer in the world. At the same time, the EU Green Deal and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism put increasing pressure on the Turkish steel producers to lower their carbon emissions. Finland is also working hard on fossil-free steelmaking technologies, energy issues, and sustainability, as the steel industry accounts for around 7 percent of Finland’s total emissions.

On infrastructure project collaboration, Turkish construction companies are active globally. Finnish technology expertise can enhance efficiency, reliability, and environmental sustainability in global infrastructure projects. Joint project opportunities with Turkish contractors in Central Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia in the sectors of airports, seaports, highway, railways, data centers, and hospitals, as well as the reconstruction of Ukraine are areas of mutual interest. The signing of the reinsurance agreement between Finnvera and Türk Eximbank is a great boost to the collaboration in this field.

In addition to the discussions between the ministerial delegations, the busy day included a Finland-Türkiye co-innovation workshop, business roundtable
meeting, a networking luncheon, as well as sector-specific session for the steel and textile industries. The business delegations consisted of over 20 leading company representatives on both sides. For more information, you may reach out to Mr. Joona Selin, Commercial Counsellor at the Embassy of Finland in Ankara: joona.selin(a)gov.fi