By Huseyin Hayatsever and Aziz El Yaakoubi
ISTANBUL/RIYADH (Reuters) -President Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday for the first stop of a Gulf tour with "high hopes" for investment and finance as Turkey looks to ease budget strains, chronic inflation and a weakening currency.
Saudi state-run al-Ekhbariya television showed several Saudi officials welcoming Erdogan as he arrived at the venue of a Saudi-Turkish business forum in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
Erdogan is expected to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler, later on Monday.
Investments and funding from the Gulf have helped relieve pressure on Turkey's economy and hard currency buffer since 2021, when Ankara launched a diplomatic effort to repair ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"This visit has two main topics: investments, and a financial dimension. We have high hopes for both," Erdogan told a news conference at an Istanbul airport before setting off.
Erdogan's visit to Saudi Arabia will be the first stop in a Gulf tour that includes Qatar and the UAE between July 17-19 and follows his re-election in May.
"Turkey will have a serious investment opportunity in the defence industry, infrastructure and superstructure investments in the three countries," he said.
"In addition, these countries will have the opportunity to purchase certain assets from Turkey," he added.
Two senior Turkish officials have said previously that Turkey expects Gulf countries to make direct investments of about $10 billion initially in domestic assets as a result of Erdogan's trip to the region.
Ekhbaria carried live footage showing Saudi Investment Minister Khaled al-Falih addressing dozens of businessmen from both sides at the Saudi-Turkish business forum in Jeddah.
Last month, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek travelled to the UAE to discuss "economic cooperation opportunities" with counterparts, and they met President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Ankara said.
Erdogan appointed Yilmaz and Simsek after the elections in part to execute a U-turn after years of unorthodox economic policy that sent inflation soaring and net foreign reserves to a record low in May. As part of the pivot, the central bank hiked rates by 650 basis points last month.
Turkey's budget deficit surged to 219.6 billion lira ($8.37 billion) in June, seven times the deficit a year earlier, data showed on Monday. Annual inflation was close to 40% in June while the lira has weakened nearly 29% this year.
(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever and Ali Kucukgocmen;Writing by Daren Butler and Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by William Maclean)
