The Minister of Trade Prof. Ömer Bolat visited the IKV Brussels Office on 10 October 2023 on the margins of his visit to Brussels and met with representatives of the private sector and NGOs at the business meeting hosted by TOBB. The visit was accompanied by Prof. Haluk Kabaalioğlu, Vice President of IKV.

In his speech, Minister Bolat reminded that he had recently had various contacts with EU officials, that he had met with Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President of the European Commission, at the G20 meeting in India and with Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Policy, during his visit to Ankara, and that he had separate meetings with Dombrovskis, Varhelyi and Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, in Brussels.

"In the picture we see, our sincere desire to advance and deepen the economic relations between Türkiye and the EU, to remove some of the problems that emerged in the customs union, and to initiate Türkiye-EU dialogue and deeper relations has also been reciprocated by the EU authorities," said Minister Bolat, emphasizing that what is pleasing is that there is a very positive atmosphere in the EU regarding relations with Türkiye.

Minister Bolat pointed out that the European Commission's country report will be published in November and that the Türkiye section of this report is important and said, "The information we have received is that this report will write a positive development in terms of Türkiye's foreign policy, economic relations and relations with the EU in the new period. It is understood that positive recommendations will be made at the point of overcoming some difficulties arising from Türkiye's customs union and relations with the EU."

Minister Bolat stated that the Member States will decide on how to improve relations with Türkiye according to the road map to be prepared by the Commission at the Leaders' Summit to be held in Brussels in mid-December and emphasized that they informed the EU authorities about their views and solution requests regarding the visa, transportation quotas and customs procedures problems faced by the business world between Türkiye and EU countries. Stating that the EU officials took note of these issues and problems, Minister Prof. Dr. Bolat said, "We had a very positive impression that Türkiye's rightful demands on these issues should be resolved."