ANKARA - Turkey`s trade volume in free zones increased 4.4 percent, and reached 5.6 billion USD in the first quarter of 2007.
According to data from Turkish Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade, despite the 7.2 percent drop of trade volume of Istanbul Free Leather Zone, the region made the biggest amount of trade with 1.4 billion USD in the first quarter of 2007.
Aegean Free Zone realized a trade volume of 992.1 million USD with 9.3 percent increase in the same period.
The volume of trade was 741.2 million USD in Istanbul Ataturk Airport (3.3 percent increase), 570.7 million USD in Istanbul Thrace Free Zone and 542.2 million USD (22 percent increase) in Mersin Free Zone in the first three months of this year.
Raw materials and investment products make up 85 percent of sales made to Turkey by free trade zones. Industrial products amount to 96 percent of the total trade volume of free trade zones.
Mechanical industry and textile-confection sectors share the first ranks in total trade volume, with shares of 23 percent and 17.7 percent, respectively.
42,060 people were employed in 3,833 firms in the free zones, in the first quarter of 2007.
Free zones made 30 percent of its total trade with European Union countries, which make EU the biggest trade partner of free zones after Turkey.