Sunday 21 / December / 2025
Muscat: The 13th Session of the Türkiye–Oman Joint Committee (JC) was held in Ankara on 19 December 2025, co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Treasury and Finance of the Republic of Türkiye, and H.E. Mr. Qais Mohammed Al Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion of the Sultanate of Oman.
At the meeting, both sides signed the Joint Committee Protocol, along with a Memorandum of Understanding to promote cooperation between educational institutions.
The Protocol, signed at the conclusion of the Session, serves as a roadmap reflecting the progress achieved in Türkiye-Oman relations and setting out new areas of cooperation across a wide range of sectors, including industry, transport, energy, tourism, education, banking and finance, agriculture, and e-commerce.
H.E. Mr. Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion of the Sultanate of Oman, drew attention to the importance of expanding bilateral trade and investment relations in line with the directives of the leadership of both countries, particularly the shared objective of increasing total trade volume to $5 billion over the next five years, and emphasised the need to translate the strong political momentum into concrete economic outcomes through joint projects and strategic sector investments.
He also noted the steady growth in trade and investment flows between the two countries, including the rising presence of Turkish companies in Oman and the increasing confidence of Omani investors in the Turkish economy, and welcomed the steps taken to accelerate the conclusion of the Türkiye–GCC Free Trade Agreement, strengthen cooperation in industrial zones, logistics, export promotion, and capacity building, as well as to enhance people-to-people exchanges in areas such as tourism, education, and technical cooperation.
H.E. Mr. Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef also drew attention to the significant growth in bilateral trade, noting a 5.3% increase in 2024 followed by a further 7.8% rise in the first half of 2025. He emphasized that Türkiye remains a key export destination for Omani products and welcomed the 21% increase in Turkish companies operating within the Sultanate as of September 2025. Furthermore, he highlighted the 18.7% growth in Turkish investment, which continues to play a vital role in supporting Oman’s infrastructure and development projects.
He also noted a strategic plan to increase total trade to $5 billion over the next five years and proposed the creation of a dedicated Turkish-Omani industrial zone in the Sultanate. This zone would aim to leverage Oman’s strategic location and its existing Free Trade Agreements with the USA and India, focusing on sectors such as spare parts and textiles. To facilitate this, the Minister underscored the importance of exploring direct import routes and learning from Türkiye’s successful experience in export promotion and special incentives.
During the meetings, H.E. Mr. Mehmet Şimşek underlined that concluding the Free Trade Agreement negotiations between Türkiye and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) would be a decisive catalyst for regional trade, and stressed the importance of finalising the process without delay.
On investments, Minister Şimşek stated that Türkiye is ready to support Oman’s Vision 2040 objectives and its non-oil economic transformation, noting that logistics and connectivity are among the natural strengths of both countries. He emphasized that bringing together Oman’s world-class ports and economic zones with Türkiye’s extensive links to Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East could create an end-to-end trade corridor, reducing time, cost, and risk. He also highlighted the importance of exploring joint projects in third countries, particularly in Africa.
Minister Şimşek further noted that Turkish and Omani institutions in finance and banking remain in close and regular contact, that the 2026 work programme has been discussed, and that cooperation will be broadened further in the period ahead.
Emphasising the critical role of SMEs as the backbone of both economies, Minister Şimşek stated that strengthening cooperation in this area is a shared priority. He pointed to the mutual opportunities offered by Türkiye’s nearly 400 organised industrial zones and Oman’s special economic zones, and stressed the need to swiftly finalise the Memorandum of Understanding on special economic zones.
In the energy field, Minister Şimşek stated that finalising the agreement between Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) and OQ Exploration and Production (OQEP) would support the diversification of Türkiye’s energy supply security. He also noted that the cooperation agreement on critical minerals and mining would facilitate joint investments, and welcomed the encouraging cooperation among TPAO, BOTAŞ and OQEP across oil and natural gas, pipeline security, storage, and green energy.
Finally, Minister Şimşek emphasised that deepening technical cooperation and capacity-building remains a key objective of the partnership.
In addition, the “Türkiye–Oman Roundtable Meeting,” bringing together the Ministers and representatives of the private sector, was held under the auspices of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB). The Roundtable provided an opportunity for business representatives to review ongoing projects and discuss new areas for cooperation.
Participants particularly underscored the role of Organised Industrial Zones in boosting investment and trade, and highlighted the value of experience sharing and best-practice cooperation in this field.
