UPDATE 2 - Türkiye's trade minister says talks in US 'strengthened' path toward $100B trade goal

ADDS MORE REMARKS BY TURKIYE'S TRADE MINISTER

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Türkiye's Trade Minister Omer Bolat said Friday that Ankara and the US have made progress toward expanding bilateral commerce.

Bolat said he had a "productive meeting" with US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer during his visit to Washington, DC.

The minister said they "comprehensively" discussed Türkiye-US trade and economic relations.

"We believe that our meeting has strengthened our common will to reach 100 billion dollar of trade.

"Türkiye will steadfastly pursue its vision of a long-term, predictable, and mutually beneficial economic partnership with the United States," Bolat said on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

Later, Bolat held a meeting with the US Chamber of Commerce and business community.

- 'We are fully committed to achieving the $100B trade volume target'

"During our discussions, we explained to the business community Türkiye's steady economic growth, which has continued for 21 consecutive quarters, and its potential," Bolat said.

Stressing that Ankara is pleased with the support of American companies in developing the commercial and economic relations, he said: "Our joint efforts will mean more investment, more trade, and more employment for companies in both the United States and Türkiye."

Bolat also met with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and "comprehensively" discussed the commercial and economic dimensions of the Türkiye-US strategic partnership.

"We are fully committed to achieving the $100 billion trade volume target set by the leaders of both countries. In this context, we will speed up our joint work," he said.

Ankara believes that the two countries will strengthen the strategic partnership on "a much more solid foundation" based on mutual benefit, he added.