Turkey and Latin America: A New Horizon for a Strategic Relationship

Year 2013, Volume: 18 Issue: 4, 99 - 116, 01.01.2013

Lic. Ariel González Levaggı

Abstract

After the impact of the economic and financial crisis of 2008-2009, Latin America and the Caribbean began to grow again 4.3% in 2011 and 3.0% in 2012, which totalize a GDP of US $5.6 trillion. One of the main factors for economic growth in the region has been the trade sector. Between 2004 and 2010 both the export and import of goods doubled while the percentage of total external debt to GDP decreased more than one third. In this context, Latin America is seen by Turkey as a land of opportunities to expand trade, build global alliances and find new investment alternatives for its focus on strategic projection in new markets. A stable trade policy towards Latin America and the Caribbean, starting with its “Promoting Trade Strategy with Latin American Countries” in 2006 and the expansion of the commerce, has positioned Turkey as an emerging trade partner in the last geographical frontier of Turkish foreign policy

Keywords

Latin America, Turkey, foreign policy, trade partnership, diplomacy.

References

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