Bilateral economic and trade relations constitute an important pillar of the cooperation between Türkiye and Romania. Romania is one of the most important trading partners of Türkiye in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Constantly developing bilateral economic and trade relations between the two countries can be clearly seen by looking at the statistics. According to data provided by Turkish Statistical Institute, the trade volume between Türkiye and Romania, which was 8.6 billion USD in 2021, swiftly overcame the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on our trade in 2022 and increased to 10.2 billion USD and reached 10,7 billion USD in 2023.
The large community of Turkish businesspeople in Romania, who are well adapted to the local business environment, contributes significantly to the strengthening of relations between the two countries. Moreover, Romania serves as an important regional hub for Turkish investments by hosting more than 19 thousand Turkish companies with more than 8 billion USD worth of investments. The number of Turkish companies operating in Romania places Türkiye in the third place in terms of foreign companies registered in Romania. Turkish companies’ activities cover a wide spectrum including retail, manufacturing and service sector. Ford Otosan, Arctic (Arçelik), Kastamonu Entegre, Erdemir, Martur, Beyçelik, Coşkungöz, Dentaş, Yıldız Entegre, Anchor Group (Fiba Holdig), Credit Europe (Fibabank), Garanti BBVA, Anchor (Özyeğin), Kanal D, Otokar, Eti Gıda, Memorial, Penti, Kiğılı, Koton, LC Waikiki are among the biggest Turkish investors in Romania.
From the tourism perspective, Türkiye is one the most popular destinations for Romanian tourists. In 2022, Türkiye hosted 886 thousand Romanian tourists, with a record increase of 78% compared to 2021. In 2023 almost one million Romanians visited Türkiye. Since 20 May 2024 Romanian citizens can travel to Türkiye with their ID cards. Around 750.000 Turkish citizens have entered Romania in mostly for business purposes and transit.
Turkish Airlines has direct flights between İstanbul and Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Costanta with weekly 32 flights.