ISTANBUL, July 17. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is leaving on Monday for a three-day tour to the Persian Gulf countries, which will result in the signing of investment agreements worth more than $50 billion, TRT reported. About 200 Turkish businessmen will accompany him on the trip.

In addition to negotiations with the leadership of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Erdogan will take part in business forums the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey organized in those countries.

The Board’s head, Nail Olpak, told journalists before the trip that, following the results of the meetings, it is planned to conclude contracts in the construction and contracting sectors, as well as in healthcare, energy, transport, finance, tourism, and agriculture.

Speaking on A Haber TV channel on Sunday, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said he was counting on specific agreements.

"This refers to long-term projects both in two countries and in third countries. Some of the direct investments will come immediately, some in the future. We expect impressive amounts," he said, adding that the amounts will become known following the negotiations.

A separate topic of negotiations will be cooperation with the countries of the Persian Gulf in the defense industry. In particular, Yilmaz and Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek discussed this issue during their recent trip to Qatar. Military-industrial complex news portal Savunma Sanayi notes that Qatar is buying drones, guided munitions, armored ground platforms, warships and speedboats from Turkey. The parties are negotiating the sale of Turkish Milgem-class corvettes to the emirate. Qatar is also showing interest in Turkey's promising Altay main battle tank project.

The tour in the region will begin with Erdogan's visit to Saudi Arabia. According to TRT, Turkey intends to increase the annual trade turnover with that country to $30 billion.