ANKARA - Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu and Austrian Minister of Economic Affairs and Labor Martin Bartenstein signed on Thursday Turkish-Austria Fourth Term Joint Economic Commission (JEC) protocol in Ankara.
Speaking in the ceremony, Aksu said that they foresaw searches for technical assistance to Turkey in European Union (EU) membership process and especially in adjustment to EU acquis with the protocol.
Aksu pointed out that the protocol would not only improve relations between Turkey and Austria but also increase fields of cooperation.
Their duty was to encourage concerned authorities and organizations to take necessary steps in order to put into practice their commitments, Aksu said.
Aksu noted that they decided to increase current trade volume and launch initiatives to reach that target.
''We have informed the Austrian delegation about opportunities in our free zones. We have once more called on them to make investments in our country,'' Aksu said.
Aksu pointed out that the two countries thought that joint projects in third countries would be beneficial and said, ''we have declared our mutual will to convene a joint energy commission as soon as possible. We have also agreed that meeting of land transportation commission will be beneficial to ensure passage facilities for our transporters and we have invited concerned people to Istanbul. We also proposed to cooperate in ship construction and repair and sugar industry. We also talked about benefits of close cooperation in tourism.''
Austrian Minister of Economic Affairs and Labor Bartenstein said that it was not possible to solve some problems immediately.
Bartenstein noted that steps to solve those problems would be taken in coming weeks and months.
They thought of holding the meeting of Energy Commission between December 2-3, Bartenstein pointed out.
Bartenstein stated that it would be beneficial to start talks on agreements on double taxation, air and land transportation.
Drawing attention to the fact that political relations between two countries had gained momentum, Bartenstein said that that momentum should continue.
Inviting Aksu to Vienna for the fifth term JEC meeting, Bartenstein added that it would be advantageous to cooperate and support each other in not only bilateral economic relations but also in issues like supporting Turkey's EU membership process and also in multi-national sense like negotiations with the World Trade Organization.
(BRC-Öª) 09.10.2003