World Bulletin / News Desk

Turkish firms are excited about the 2022 FIFA World Cup set to be held in the Gulf state of Qatar and the big business from the tournament, Turkey’s customs and trade minister said on Thursday.

"Qatar’s prime minister said Turkish firms will be given priority, especially in bids. We want Turkish firms to be very interested in their projects," Bulent Tufenkci said after visiting the Expo Turkey by Qatar in the capital Doha, along with Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) head Rifat Hisarciklioglu.

Tufenkci said Qatari and Turkish businesspeople had business meetings and business contacts with each other during the Turkey-Qatar Business Forum and expo.

Qatari investors are very interested in Turkey in such areas as finance, tourism, health, education, and real estate, he added.

"Turkey is a country of opportunities. We want our Qatari brothers to take advantage of them.

“Our [bilateral] trade volume in 2017 reached almost $900 million, and it will go higher in 2018. I think we will achieve the $5 billion goal set by our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan," he said.