ISTANBUL, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye and the Arab world pledged to enhance their financial cooperation at the International Arab Banking Summit started Thursday in Türkiye's largest city, Istanbul.
Organized by the Union of Arab Banks, the summit convened key stakeholders from governments and the business world to delve into avenues for bolstering cooperation and surmounting challenges by tapping the potential.
Addressing the summit, Türkiye's Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency Chairman Sahap Kavcioglu said he believed the summit would help enhance financial communication and boost such cooperation.
In the speech live-broadcasted by local media, he said that the total assets managed by Arab countries in Türkiye amount to 3.8 trillion Turkish liras (about 118 billion U.S. dollars), and they have a share in eight banks operating in the country.
Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said at the summit that great cooperation potential, especially in tourism, defense industry and other fields, awaited to be unleashed from implementing free trade agreements between his country and those in the Arab world.
Wissam H. Fattouh, secretary general of the Union of Arab Banks, highlighted the keen interest of Arab banks to delve into the Turkish financial market, stressing that the union receives numerous requests from Arab banks expressing interest in investing in Türkiye.
"The trade cooperation amounting to 72 billion dollars between Türkiye and the Arab world underscores the attractiveness of Türkiye for Arab banks," Fattouh was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu agency.
Established in 1974 as a pan-Arab organization to represent the Arab banking and financial community, the union has 20 members from Arab countries. ■
