site.btaTurkish Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association Supports Free Trade, Vice Chairman Sar Says in Sofia

The Turkish Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MUSIAD) supports free trade, as agreements and friendships stimulate commerce and profits. From this perspective, Turkiye is making efforts to conclude more agreements with its neighbouring countries, Selim Sar, Vice Chairman, responsible for MUSIAD’s Overseas Organization Committee, said in Sofia on Wednesday.

Sar is on an official visit to Bulgaria and met representatives of Bulgarian media at the Sofia office of the Association. The meeting, organized in cooperation with the Office of the Communications Counsellor at the Directorate of Communications at the Embassy of the Republic of Turkiye in Sofia, aimed to present MUSIAD’s structure, activities, and mission. The organization has had an official representation in Bulgaria since 2023.

“Economy comes first in relations between Turkiye and Bulgaria,” Dilek Kutuk, Communications Counsellor at the Turkish Embassy said at the beginning of the meeting. “Our goal is to identify the needs of Turkish and Bulgarian businesses and to build a bridge between the two countries so that companies can smoothly develop their business relations.” Kutuk described MUSIAD as one of the most important organizations in Turkiye.

Explaining MUSIAD’s activities in Bulgaria since 2019, he noted that the association is active in four regions of the country. The business sectors represented include media and communications; energy and environment; finance, consulting, and education; food, agriculture, and livestock; construction and construction materials; chemical industry, metals, mining, and metallurgy; transport and logistics; machinery manufacturing; automotive industry; healthcare; tourism and textiles.

“In Turkiye, MUSIAD is primarily active in the services sector. The second most developed field is defence, followed by construction, while machinery manufacturing is the fourth most strongly represented sector within the organization,” Sar explained, adding: “In Bulgaria, the association is strongest in food trade, logistics, and freight forwarding.”

With the support of MUSIAD’s investment agency, the association will seek to further improve trade relations between Bulgaria and Turkiye, Sar assured. According to him, the goal is to increase bilateral trade turnover from the current approximately USD 7.7 billion in 2024 to USD 10 billion. He emphasized that this can be achieved through sector-based cooperation and coordination, highlighting logistics and machinery manufacturing as key sectors.

According to Sar, the association strives to become more actively involved in trade between Europe and Turkiye. He announced plans to organize a General Assembly in Bulgaria in April or May, accompanied by a stronger business presence. In addition, a major investment forum is planned to be held in the country in 2027.

Selim Sar’s visit to Bulgaria continues with meetings in other Bulgarian cities, including Razgrad (Northeastern Bulgaria) and Plovdiv, MUSIAD representatives said.