United Arab Emirates

President Trump is looking anew at American allies and partners. While saying he will preserve these relationships, he wants them to pay their fair share and uphold their side of the relationship. Whether it is South Korea or Saudi Arabia, they are subject to his calls for them to contribute more and defray our costs in deploying forces to defend them.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on May 8 said he aimed to boost economic and military ties with Arab Gulf states, as talks on a free trade zone deal pushed ahead.

Erdoğan, who is expected in Kuwait on May 9, said Ankara was involved in "high level strategic dialogue" with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the state-run KUNA news agency reported.

A top Turkish hoteliers association has said around 4 to 6 percent of increase is expected in arrivals from the Middle East to Turkey over this year, particularly ahead of and after the holy month of Ramadan. 

In a written statement on May 5, the Hotels Association of Turkey (TÜROB) said there is demand especially for health tourism from the region. 

Oil-exporting Arab states of the Gulf are heading "in the right direction" to plug budgetary gaps thanks to fiscal reforms, but more change is still necessary, the International Monetary Fund said on May 2.

Turkey's year-on-year trade deficit rose by 15.8 percent in April to over $4.9 billion, according to a preliminary estimate revealed by the Customs and Trade Ministry on May 2.        

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Saudi Arabia's King Salman and his successors in her first visit to the kingdom in seven years, saying she pressed them on women's rights, the war in Yemen and other sensitive issues, as reported by the Associated Press on May 1. 

Turkey's foreign trade deficit narrowed by 10.3 percent year-on-year in March, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said on April 28.        

"In March 2017 foreign trade deficit was $4.492 billion with a 10.3 percent decrease compared with March 2016," TÜİK said.        

Number of tourists from the United Arab Emirates showing interest in Bulgaria's nature and mountain holidays, especially in the Rhodope region, has increased, BNR reported.

It became clear at Bulgaria's pavilion at the biggest international tourist exhibition in the Middle East-Arabian Travel Market held between April 24 and 27 in the city of Dubai, UAE.

Global and regional business and policy leaders will come together at the eighth annual Atlantic Council Istanbul Summit on April 27-28 with the aim of developing ideas and action on the issues of energy, the economy and security.

New Zealand is considering restrictions on laptops and other large electronic devices on flights from some Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East, the country's prime minister said on April 24.

The new rules would follow similar measures introduced last month by the United States, Britain and Australia.