ANGLO-TURKISH TRADE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 6 December 1940, Page 5

ANGLO-TURKISH TRADE

THE NEW ARRANGEMENTS SATISFACTION IN LONDON [U.P A.-By Electric Telegraph-Copyright] LONDON, 4th December. The conclusion of the arrangements between the Turkish and British Governments by which it is hoped to bring about a considerable increase in trade through commercial exchanges has given all the more satisfaction in London because they are the outcome of long discussions which covered the whole field of Turkish commercial relation with the United Kingdom and the British Empire. They will facilitate British purchases, running into millions, of Turkish agricultural and other products, the disposal of which is so essential to the maintenance of the Turkish national economy/ and will also enable the Turkish Government and importers to buy from the United Kingdom and the British Empire generally not only goods required by governmental institutions but also items such as cotton and woollen goods required by the peasant producer. Thus the long-standing British policy of aiding Turkey to free herself from undue and unwelcome dependence in her foreign trade on a single outlet has been successfully implemented. For increasing trade under these arrangements, which also imply closer co-operation between the authorities of the two countries, full use will be made of the organisation of the United Kingdom Commercial Corporation formed some time ago to stimulate the trade of the Near East with Britain. The local representatives of the corporation are collaborating with the Turkish authorities in an examination of Turkish requirements, some of which it has already been found possible to satisfy. For example, negotiations have been completed for the dispatch of a number of locomotives and a large number of wagons to Turkey.

The United Kingdom and Empire producers and exporters have in the past carried on a considerable trade with Turkey, though the trade with the United Kingdom has not amounted in the aggregate to more than 10 per cent, of the total of Turkey’s foreign trade. Under the stimulus of these arrangements the British Empire may well become the leading customer and supplier of Turkey.