“In the January-June period, exports from Turkey to Libya reached almost $1.2 billion with an increase of 72.3% compared to the same period last year,” Murtaza Karanfil, the head of Turkey-Libya Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), told Anadolu Agency in an interview.

The figures were $1.7 billion and $2.1 billion in 2019 and 2018, respectively.

On the other hand, exports of building materials to Libya have come to a standstill due to the Tobruk-based House of Representatives not approving the budget, he said.

Approval of the budget means the export of building materials needed by both the public and private sector and the resumption of contracting work mainly provided by Turkey, according to Karanfil.

If the budget is approved, Turkey’s exports to Libya will exceed $3 billion in 2021, he added.

Karanfil, who is also the chairman of the Karanfil Group, said they are continuing initiatives to set up an international logistics base in Libya.

He said Libya with its 1,770 kilometers (1,100 miles) coastline on the Mediterranean Sea is a hub just across Europe, adding: “It is also a gateway to Africa through which Turkish businesspeople can raise their exports to the continent easily.”