The Role of Central Asian and South Caucasian Economies in Foreign Trade of the Republic of Türkiye

Abstract

Based on the data of the World Integrated Trade Solution of the World Bank, this paper discusses the role of the Central Asian and South Caucasian economies in the foreign trade of the Republic of Türkiye. In order to obtain comparable results, Türkiye's exports to the Central Asian and South Caucasian regions and imports from the former to the latter are considered in constant prices. The observation shows that both trade flows increased during the period under consideration. For most of the years, many of the countries remained net importers of Turkish goods, as their exports to Türkiye exceeded the value of the goods they purchased from Türkiye. Only three of the eight countries - Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan - were net exporters to Türkiye for most of the period. The analysis shows that the largest buyers of Turkish exports in the regions were Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Uzbekistan, which together consumed more than 2.5% of total Turkish exports in 2019. In total, Central Asia and South Caucasus bought more than 3% of Turkish exports, which is quite comparable to the shares of Türkiye's trading partners such as the Netherlands, France, Spain, the US, and Italy. The share of Central Asia and South Caucasus in Türkiye's imports was much less significant.