TODAY.AZ / Business

"Turkey-Eurasia Foreign Trade Bridge" summit held in Istanbul

18 September 2006 [18:29] - TODAY.AZ
Turkey has hosted the second biggest economy summit twice in the last four months. A total of 450 businessmen and 10 ministers from 12 countries discussed new opportunities of business partnership at the Lutfi Kirdar Congress Center in Istanbul.

Speakers focused on the common political, economic and cultural points among the countries at the summit in which 500 businessmen participated from Turkey. "Let's increase the $1,3 trillion total revenue altogether. We could be one of the most important centers of attraction with new partnerships," the businessmen determined.

State Minister responsible for foreign trade Kursat Tuzmen, speaking at the Confederation of Turkish Businessmen and Manufacturers (TUSKON) "Turkey-Eurasia Foreign Trade Bridge" summit, summarized how the summit presents an opportunity for the region countries as follows, "We were with our African friends four months ago. Now, we are taking another step that will bring Turkey closer to Eurasia."

"The borders among the Black Sea, the Caspian and the Mediterranean will be removed with the new partnerships to be established. We will make the 23 million square meters area a free trade zone." The minister also thanked the Turkish schools in the region for acting as a bridge among the countries and for contributing to regional unity and integrity.

Tuzmen listed the names of representatives that attended the "Turkey-Eurasia Foreign Trade Bridge" from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Georgia and Moldavia.

Indicating that Eurasia has the fastest reconstruction of global activities, Tuzmen emphasized the importance of developing commercial partnerships with Eurasian countries. To achieve this, the laws should be adjusted first Tuzmen said, adding that a joint strategy should be the second step.

The transportation sector, in particular railways, should be integrated to ensure a faster, safer and cheaper transportation of goods; cooperation should take precedence over competition.

The minister told that the Black Sea and Caspian should become a free zone, "The key to success is simple. We will mingle the waters of the Black Sea, the Caspian and the Mediterranean. All of these regions should be made a free trade zone. This is a challenging goal; however, those who know us and the businessmen of friend and brother nations, can guess what we can do in a short period of time."

Evaluating the economic developments as well, Tuzmen said that Turkey has begun to draw the attention of foreign investors more in recent years. The foreign trade entry, which was annually around $400 million, increased to $9,7 billion last year.

Turkey is among the world's fastest growing economies with an average eight percent growth rate in the first half of the year. "The engine of this performance is the businessmen, manufacturers and industrialists," said Tuzmen informing that Turkey reached the top in the "highest rate of exports" list among the OECD countries with an average 14 percent increase annually.

Reminding that Turkey had three percent of its total trade volume with neighboring countries in 2001, "Today, this figure reached 32 percent We are now making one third of our foreign trade with neighboring countries," Tuzmen informed.

/www.zaman.com/

URL: http://www.today.az/news/business/30323.html

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