Malaysia to boost fruit exports to Turkey

The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) aims to increase agricultural goods ex…

The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) aims to increase agricultural goods exports to Turkey this year, bolstered by rising demand for tropical fruits in the country.

Matrade Trade Commissioner in Istanbul Idzham Abd Hamid said tropical fruits such as pineapple, starfruit and dragon fruit are in high demand in Turkey.

Currently, Istanbul imports tropical fruits mainly from Holland.

"We should take this opportunity to export (more of) our local tropical fruits to the country," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Malaysia-Turkey Free Trade Agreement (FTA) seminar yesterday.

Malaysia's top exports to Turkey from January to July 2015 were agricultural goods (valued at RM386 million), followed by manufactured goods (RM1.2 billion) and mining goods (RM3.3 million).

The seminar, themed "Leveraging on Malaysia-Turkey FTA to Accelerate Exports", aims to boost cooperation among small and medium enterprises, halal related areas, agriculture and food industry, research development and innovation. It attracted 160 exporters.

Under the FTA, both countries will eliminate and bind duties at 0% for 70% of the tariff lines, and going forward, the duties will be gradually reduced for almost 86% of the tariff lines.