ANKARA

El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Thursday said his country wants to be a part of Turkiye's growth.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Bukele said: “Turkiye is growing in many areas, such as defense industry, and we also want to be a part of this growth. “

A signing ceremony for six agreements in various areas, including the defense industry and trade, took place ahead of the joint news conference between Erdogan and Bukele following the one-on-one and inter-delegation meetings.

Bukele has made his first trip abroad this year to Turkiye on Thursday at the invitation of Erdogan.

There are agreements signed or close to being signed with Turkish companies in areas such as port, defense industry equipment, and aviation materials, Bukele noted, saying: “So, that's only for starters.”

“Tomorrow (Friday), we're having another meeting with a lot of other companies. And even after the meeting with all of these companies, we have another meeting with one more company that is going to help us build our first satellite. So, we can send (it) into space and have the first El Salvadoran satellite that would be built with Turkish technology.”

Underlining that the trade between the two countries grew by 80% in a year, Bukele said that if the bilateral trade volume grows at the current pace, the target of $500 million can be reached in a few years.

Bukele said that during their meeting with Erdogan, they discussed investment and cooperation in the fields of energy, construction, ports, defense industry, infrastructure construction, exports, imports, and trade.

The trade volume between the two countries neared $50 million last year, according to Erdogan.

Noting that El Salvador mostly works with the US, he said: It is also important for El Salvador to look elsewhere, and Turkiye is one of the most important countries in this regard.”