A senior Iraqi parliament member disclosed on Monday that Iraq and Turkey are poised to elevate their bilateral trade volume to $24 billion, coinciding with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Baghdad for discussions on mutual interests.

Dilan Ghafoor, head of the foreign relations committee in the Iraqi parliament, revealed Erdogan's emphasis on the significance of economic ties between the nations and Turkey's aspiration to escalate annual trade to $24 billion.

Erdogan, leading a delegation including eight ministers, engaged in a one-day visit, conferring with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani in Baghdad before journeying to Erbil for meetings with President Barzani and Prime Minister Barzani.

Highlighting the existing trade rapport, Sudani cited a March 2023 Rudaw opinion piece stating that Iraq's trade volume with Turkey had reached about $20 billion.

The meetings culminated in the signing of over 24 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) encompassing cooperation in diverse fields such as economy, trade, water, and security. Notable among these is an MoU establishing a Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) between Iraqi and Turkish trade ministries, aimed at bolstering trade volume through measures like customs duty reduction and easing restrictions on certain imports.

Over the past three decades, trade between Iraq and Turkey has seen substantial growth, with Turkish exports to Iraq skyrocketing from $119 million in 1995 to $11.1 billion in 2021, according to data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) affiliated Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).

Erdogan also conveyed Ankara's intention to enhance trade ties with Erbil, emphasizing cooperation with the Kurdistan Region, where trade volume with Turkey stands at approximately five billion dollars annually.

Additionally, Baghdad and Ankara inked an MoU concerning the multi-billion dollar Development Road project, envisaging a route from southern Iraq to the Turkish border, aimed at linking the Persian Gulf with Turkey and bolstering Iraq's geopolitical position while fostering economic benefits. Described by Sudani as an "economic river that connects the East and the West," the project involves collaboration with Turkey, as well as with the transport ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).