Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed has stated that yellowfin tuna and dried fish are among the items Turkey has agreed to completely eliminate duties on, under the Preferential Trade Agreement being established between the Maldives and Turkey.
Speaking on state media PSM's "Raajje Miadhu" programme last night regarding the progress of the trade agreement with Turkey, the Minister revealed that the Maldives had proposed completely eliminating duties on a total of 214 items, but Turkey agreed to eliminate duties entirely on 38 of those items. The Minister added that they have also agreed to significantly reduce the current duties levied on the remaining items.
"We have secured 38 items exported from the Maldives to Turkey at 0 tariff, or without having to pay any duty whatsoever. These are items that have never received such concessions before," the Minister said.
The Minister stated that yellowfin tuna and other fish products were among the items prioritized by the government for inclusion. Specifically, skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, and bigeye tuna, along with dried fish and various food products prepared from dried fish, are included, the Minister noted. Therefore, once the agreement is signed and implemented, no duty will have to be paid when exporting these products to Turkey. The duty has been waived. The Minister highlighted that Turkey had not previously waived duties on these products in this manner, and securing a 0% tariff is seen as a very significant achievement.
The Minister said that the drafting of the free trade agreement was completed last Thursday, and the process of its implementation will begin once it is submitted to and passed by Turkey's parliament. Once that stage is completed, the agreement is expected to be implemented by late December this year or early January, the Minister added.
During his official visit to Turkey late last year, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu held extensive discussions on reducing tariffs on fish exported from the Maldives to the country. Consequently, discussions on signing a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with the Maldives, as part of an agreement signed to strengthen trade relations between the two countries, commenced in March this year.
