7 Eylül 2026 23 July 2026 — Gürsel Baran, Chair of the Board of Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO), said updating the Customs Union — which Turkey has been part of since 1996 — to cover services, agriculture, public procurement and digital trade would strengthen Turkey’s competitiveness: “We highly value the Ministry of Trade’s work on updating the Customs Union and hope the process will be completed as soon as possible.”
ATO Chair Gürsel Baran, Vice Chair Temel Aktay and Board Members Nihat Uysallı, Ahmet Akça, Ali Yıldız, Adem Ali Yılmaz, Ali İhsan Güçlü, Halil İlik and Yasin Özyolu visited Minister of Trade Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat.
CUSTOMS UNION, VISA BARRIERS AND TRANSPORT QUOTAS
Baran recalled that the European Union is Turkey’s largest export market and that bilateral trade reached 233 billion dollars last year, underlining the importance of updating the Customs Union.
DOMESTIC PRODUCTS SHOULD BE PREFERRED IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
Baran said supporting domestic production is critical for economic independence in an era of growing global competition.
ACCESS TO FINANCE MUST BE EASIER
Supporting the disinflation programme, Baran stressed that easier access to finance for the real sector is essential to keep production, investment and exports on track.