Turkey, China hope to revive historic Silk Road

Turkish State Minister for foreign trade Zafer Caglayan met Wednesday with Chinese Trade Minister Chen Deming in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Caglayan said Turkish and Chinese businesspeople had held extensive talks over cooperation in the mining sector, vegetable oil production and textiles, adding that the two countries had been working on doing trade in their own currencies.

"I hope that by this time tomorrow we would have signed with China business deals worth of over 1 billion USD," Caglayan said.

Caglayan said the Turkish government had introduced an incentive law to draw foreign investments, adding he was confident that Chinese companies would boost their investments in Turkey.

Caglayan said Turkey aimed at engaging in a strategic cooperation with China to turn trade relations into an economic integration between the two countries.

Chinese trade minister said on his part that Chinese businesspeople as well as others from Asia sought to make investments in Turkey.

Deming said the trade volume between Turkey and China in 2008 was 12.6 billion USD, adding that Chinese companies' investments in Turkey ammounted to some 300 million USD.

Deming said reviving the historic Silk Road was also on the agenda of their meeting with Caglayan, adding that the two countries agreed on this issue.

Deming said the Chinese government was willing to encourage Turkish investors, urging Turkish businesspeople to boost their promotion campaigns in China.

/World Bulletin/