ANKARA - State Minister Besir Atalay and a delegation accompanying him will go to Oman on Friday.
Atalay and the delegation will participate in Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meetings which will take place in Muscat between January 11 and 13.
Bilateral trade, economic and industry relations as well as cooperation issues on agriculture and transportation are expected to be discussed.
A Memorandum of Understanding will be signed after the meetings.
Atalay will stage a meeting with businessmen from Oman and Turkey during the talks.
State Minister Atalay is expected to meet with Oman Sultan Qaboos, Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Affairs Fahd, bin Mahmud Al Said, Minister of National Economy Ahmad bin Abd al-Nabi al-Makki, Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Minerals Maqbul bin Ali bin Sultan, Minister of Transport and Communications Malik bin Sulayman al-Mamari, Minister of National Heritage and Culture Said bin Ali Al Faysal, State Minister and Muscat Governor Seyit Al-Motassem bin Hemoud al Bsaidi.
International Highway Transportation agreement, Economic, Technical and Scientific cooperation agreement and a cooperation agreement on Environmental Protection are expected to be signed between the two countries during Atalay's visit.
According to the nine-months foreign trade data of Foreign Trade Undersecrtariat for 2003, Turkey's exports to Oman was around 16.7 million U.S. dollars and imports is around 1.18 million U.S. dollars.
Although Oman has a small population, its level of national income per capita is approximately 8 thousand U.S. dollars. Oman is one of the most important markets of Gulf region for exporter Turkish companies.
(AY-AÖ) 08.01.2004