As part of our visit to Spain, one of our most important trade partners within the European Union, we held a productive meeting in Madrid with Mr. Carlos Cuerpo Caballero, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise of Spain. During our meeting, we comprehensively discussed our bilateral trade and economic relations with Spain, our strategic partner, friend and ally.
We evaluated steps to further advance our existing economic partnership and, in this regard, agreed to hold the 4th Term Türkiye-Spain JETCO Meeting in Madrid next autumn with strong participation from the business communities of both countries. During our meeting, where global and regional economic developments were also assessed, Türkiye-EU economic relations constituted one of the important agenda items.
In this context, we shared our expectations for updating the Customs Union, which forms the basis of our strong economic integration with EU member states, and for its more effective functioning. We exchanged views on the fact that public procurement is one of the priority areas that could take our economic cooperation to a higher level.
We also evaluated the trade, competition and industrial policies recently implemented by the European Union, particularly the Industrial Acceleration Act. We emphasized that shaping these policies with an inclusive approach that also covers Türkiye would make significant contributions to both the EU's competitiveness and Europe's economic security.
On the occasion of our meeting, we congratulated Spain on its FIFA World Cup championship. Expressing our sorrow over the recent forest fires in Spain, we once again reaffirmed Türkiye's strong support for its friend and ally Spain during this process.
We aim to increase our bilateral trade volume with Spain, our fourth largest trade partner within the European Union, from last year's annual 20.5 billion dollars to 25 billion dollars annually in the medium term.
We believe that, within the framework of the vision drawn by our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the deep-rooted friendship and strategic partnership between Türkiye and Spain will further strengthen and develop in the coming period on the basis of the innovative initiatives put forward by our business communities and mutual trust.
