"We see that besides trading in commodities, our trade is in good condition. Nevertheless, we are trying to expand the ties between our companies in different sectors. We are trying to see what other means we can use to increase trade between our countries," Tuzcu said.
Citing the decrease in bilateral trade by 6.8% in 2024, the Turkish official opined that it was primarily due to a decrease in world commodity prices as there were otherwise no structural problems in bilateral trade.
"You know, energy carriers are an important source of our trade. And you know that last year the prices of commodities and energy resources fell. This affected the trading figures. And in metallurgy, we also see that prices have fallen. In addition, also in the field of agriculture, we see that 2024 was not the best year for manufacturers in terms of production and also in terms of prices. There is a slowdown cycle in global trade as well. It is also not directly related to Turkish-Russian trade," he added.
Turkish companies remain interested in entering Russia's tourism market, Tuzcu said.
"We see a growing desire in the tourism sector to invest here [in Russia]. As you know, last year Russian tourists accounted for almost 12% of the total number of tourists in Turkiye. But we also see the potential here, in this country. And we see that our companies are also showing a growing interest in involving this market," he said.
The Russian city of St. Petersburg is hosting the 28th edition of SPIEF from June 18-21 under the theme of "Shared Values: The Foundation of Growth in a Multipolar World." The Rossiya Segodnya international media group, Sputnik's parent company, is the forum's information partner.