Turkish finance minister to visit Saudi Arabia ahead of Erdogan visit

Turkish finance minister to visit Saudi Arabia ahead of Erdogan visit

ISTANBUL - Turkey's finance minister and central bank governor will travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to meet investors ahead of President Tayyip Erdogan's planned trip to the Gulf on July 17-19, one source and state-owned Anadolu Agency said on Tuesday. Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek will meet his Saudi counterpart Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Anadolu said. Last week, Reuters reported that Ankara expects Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to make direct investments of some $10 billion initially, and $30 billion in total, in Turkey's energy, infrastructure and defence sectors on the heels of Erdogan's visit to the three countries. Turkey's Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz visited Qatar with Simsek over the weekend, met officials and discussed economic cooperation opportunities. (Reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)