ANKARA - Rifat Hisarcıklıoglu, the Chairman of Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) received on Thursday German Ambassador to Turkey Wolf Ruthard Born.
Speaking during the meeting, Hisarcıklıoglu said that TOBB would activate Turkish-German Trade and Industry Chamber in Koln next month. He said that the chamber would constitute a new bridge in the commercial relations of the two countries.
Underlining that Germany had a very important status in respect of Turkey, Hisarcıklıoglu said that Germany was Turkey's number one partner in foreign trade.
Recalling that approximately 3.5 million Turks lived in Germany, Hisarcıklıoglu said that 57,000 Turkish entrepreneurs also carried out commercial activities in Germany.
Hisarcıklıoglu said that nearly 100,000 German citizens lived in Turkey, adding that this was the most beautiful example of the cultural and commercial cooperation between the two nations. He said that every year nearly 3-3.5 million German tourists spent their holiday in Turkey.
Noting that the trade figures between the two countries didn't reflect the real potential and that efforts had to be launched to upgrade the relations in economic field. Hisarcıklıoglu stressed that German Turkish Trade and Industry Chamber acting in Turkey also carried out successful studies.
German Ambassador to Turkey Born said in his part that Turkey was on the eve of taking important decisions on the way to EU membership, adding that Germany supported Turkey in that process and would continue to do so.
Born said that Germany appreciated the comprehensive reform programme, adding that the business world in Germany welcomed the reforms of Turkey. Born noted that the private sector in Germany was totally supporting Turkey's EU membership.
(ÖŞ-AY) 16.10.2003