Business

11 August 2023; AA: Türkiye's current account balance posted a net surplus of $674 million in June, the country's central bank announced on Friday.

Gold and energy excluded current account balance saw a net surplus of $5.58 billion in the month, the Turkish Central Bank said.

In June, the goods deficit was at $3.69 billion, while services posted a net surplus of $5.02 billion. Travel item, under services, recorded a net inflow of $4.2 billion.

11 August 2023; AA: Expressing strong opposition to “official interaction of any form” between the US and Taiwan, China on Friday called on Washington to revoke a bilateral trade agreement with Taipei.

“The US move violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, contravenes the US’s own commitment of maintaining only unofficial relations with Taiwan,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

11 August 2023; AA: The British economy saw a 0.2% growth in the second quarter of the year, beating economists' expectations of zero growth, official figures showed on Friday.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), gross domestic product grew 0.5% in June, helped by the manufacturing sector, and 0.2% from April to June as a whole.

10 August 2023; MEMO: Iraq's Prime Minister, on Thursday, inaugurated a hospital that was built by a Turkish construction company in the south-eastern Maysan province, Anadolu Agency reports.

Premier Mohammed Shia Al-Sudan participated in the opening of Al-Hekim Training and Research Hospital, which was constructed by the Turkish company, Universal Acarsan, and has a capacity of 600 beds.

9 August 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's Embassy in Tehran resumed its operations earlier this week after more than a seven-year hiatus, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

The state agency cited an unnamed "official source" in the Foreign Ministry as confirming that the Saudi Embassy in the Iranian capital resumed its work "three days ago."

08 August 2023; MEMO: A dispute between Iran and South Korea over $7 billion in frozen assets is set for legal arbitration, a presiding committee of the Iranian parliament announced on Tuesday. The dispute is between the Central Bank of Iran and the government of South Korea.

09 August 2023; MEMO: The five most prominent Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have invested over $100 billion in Africa over the years, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) leading the way, according to a new publication.

07 August 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with key Turkish defence firm Baykar Tech to help the kingdom localise the manufacturing of drones, in the latest deal signifying the improved relations between Riyadh and Ankara.

07 August 2023; MEMO: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused the US of encouraging smuggling by sea in the Gulf region, in the latest sign of rising tensions between Tehran and Washington.

"Today, the Americans are targeting oil tankers while helping the maritime smuggling networks in our region," said Khamenei on state television yesterday, Bloomberg News has reported. "This is a major violation on their part."

Tehran, IRNA – Iranian lawmakers have approved a bill to establish the Dogharoon Special Economic Zone on the Iran-Afghanistan border.

In the Sunday session of the Iranian parliament (Majlis), the legislators discussed a report by the Iranian Parliament Commission on Economy concerning a bill to set up the Dogharoon Special Economic Zone. The bill along with its notes was voted by 160 in favor, 18 against and 10 abstentions.