In 2016, Saudi Arabia's total fruit and vegetable imports from Turkey were worth about 166.42 million US dollars, up 53.6 percent compared to 2015, when the value of imports did not exceed 108.38 million US dollars.
According to Dr Mustafa Kokso, senior adviser at the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT), this significant growth in Saudi Arabia's fruit and vegetable imports from Turkey comes at a time when Saudi investments inside Turkish territory in this vital sector have increased thanks to the cooperation of the Turkish government.
In 2014, Saudi imports of fruits and vegetables from Turkey did not even exceed $ 82 million, and in 2015 they already recorded a 33 percent growth, reaching 108.38 million dollars.
He stressed that, in 2017, we will see further increases in Saudi Arabia's fruit and vegetable imports from Turkey, mostly due to the high number of Saudi investors in this sector.
He added that the investments and the volume of imports are greater for Turkish fruits than they are for vegetables. While Saudi Arabia's imports of Turkish fruits in 2016 were worth about 121.16 million US dollars, vegetable imports reached a value of more than 45.26 million dollars.
