Turkey, Britain to hold free trade agreement modernisation talks by end-July, trade minister says

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey and the United Kingdom agreed to hold the first round of negotiations to modernize and expand the scope of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between them by end-July, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said on Wednesday.

The FTA between NATO allies Britain and Turkey was rolled over when Britain left the European Union in 2020, but a review by both sides in 2023 concluded there was room for improvement.

In a post on X, Bolat said his meeting in London with UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, was productive and that the sides signed sections of the free trade agreement about motor vehicles and chemicals, taking an "important step in the modernization process."

"Additionally, we agreed to hold the 8th session of the Türkiye–United Kingdom Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO), where we will comprehensively assess our trade relations, in London later this year," Bolat added.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Toby Chopra)