Thu 15 October 2020:
Representatives of the Turkish business community have called on Saudi Arabia and Morocco to reverse their actions as firms are reportedly facing growing problems in conducting business with the two countries.
Calls for boycott of Turkish goods in Saudi Arabia and Morocco’s decision to hike duties on dozens of Turkish products will negatively affect both the countries as well, said Hasan Hüseyin Bayram, head of the Turkish Home Textile Industrialists and Businessmen Association (TETSIAD).
In a statement Tuesday, Bayram said the unofficial boycott decisions of the two countries, which have a common religious and historical background with Turkey, will damage the mutual cooperation policies based on yearslong historical ties and trade relations.
Riyadh has recently been enforcing an informal boycott of imports from Turkey according to reports.
Late last week, Saudi Prince Abdurrahman Bin Musa’ad Al-Saud called for a boycott of Turkish imports until “Ankara reviews its policies with the Kingdom.”
Saudi Arabians should not do business with Turkish companies in the Kingdom, said the head of Saudi Arabia’s Chamber of Commerce Ajlan al-Ajlan on Wednesday, as he repeated his call for a boycott of “everything Turkish.”
Eight leading groups of Turkish businesspeople, including the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM) and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) on Saturday urged Saudi Arabia to take concrete steps to resolve the problems.
Calls for a boycott of the Turkish products from the Saudi authorities is an example of double standards, said Inegöl Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ITSO) President Yavuz Uğurdağ.
“It will cause harm to both countries,” Uğurdağ said in a statement.
Morocco
Turkish companies have also said they are facing new delays in exporting textiles and clothing to Morocco. They have complained about unusual requests for paperwork and delays of up to five times the norm clearing customs in Morocco, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Turkey exported over $2.2 billion (TL 17 billion) in goods to Morocco last year, of which textile products constituted $1 billion, said Bayram.
“Tax rates imposed at ‘zero’ last year have been gradually increased. Finally, we learned that work has been started to increase this figure to 27%,” he noted.
“If this practice continues, in addition to the deterioration of friendship and trade relations between the two countries, layoffs and therefore unemployment will begin with the withdrawal of Turkish companies serving in the region,” the TETSIAD chairman stressed.
They said they regret the discriminatory treatment that the Turkish companies face in Saudi Arabia.
Ties between the two countries have been at odds for some years over various regional issues, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
