Representatives of citrus exporters in Romania and of the leading retail chains in the country met in late November at the Athenee Palace Hilton with members of the Turkish Citrus Promotion Group, who have showed a strong interest in gaining market share in Romania.
The meeting was facilitated by Ali Kavak, President of the Turkish Citrus Promotion Group. The company already has a small share of the market in Romania and aims for significant growth in 2017.
"In recent years, economic and trade relations between Turkey and Romania have not seen a great development, stalling at about 5-6 billion dollars. The same is true when talking about fresh fruit and vegetables and citrus. Our desire is to develop and expand the trade between the two countries," he stated. "We are convinced that our arrival here, which aims to boost growth and ensure the development of trade between our countries, will yield positive results."
Kavak also hoped that "the actions and activities that we carry out on behalf of our sector will be reflected positively in the collaboration between the two countries," said the President of the Turkish Citrus Promotion Group during the opening dinner which aimed to improve the relations between Turkish exporters and Romanian retailers.
Turkey is the world's fifth largest fresh fruit and vegetable producer, with a share of 2.4 percent, as well as being the ninth largest citrus grower, with a share of 2.7 percent.
Its citrus sector, which contributes to the country's total exports with shipments worth about $ 1 billion, is characterised by the diversity of its production. Turkey is the world's 36th largest exporter of mandarins, the 35th largest of lemons, the 20th largest of oranges and the 9th largest grapefruit exporter.
Romania currently secures more than half of its citrus imports from Greece and Turkey. Of this amount, Greece has a share of 33.1 percent and Turkey of 24.8 percent.
