ANKARA - State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said on Thursday that Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Turkey and Palestine was initialed.
Tuzmen said that the second round of FTA negotiations between Turkey and Palestine was held in Ramallah after five years and noted that Foreign Trade Undersecretary officials continued talks.
Stating that mentioned negotiations were held in a constructive way, Tuzmen said that an agreement was reached on issue of formation of a free trade zone as a result of negotiations which lasted for three days. He added that FTA document was initialed.
Noting that sides reached consensus that the agreement would be signed by the end of May 2004 at latest, he said that the agreement would go into effect after both sides completed official approval procedure.
Tuzmen said that Turkey and Palestine were among countries included in Barcelona Process which aimed at setting up a free trade zone between European and Mediterranean countries by 2010, stating that both sides would also fulfill one of the tasks on the issue with the agreement's going into effect.
Tuzmen noted that customs taxes would be lifted in imports of industrial products when the agreement went into effect.
Stating that the agreement aimed at supporting peace and prosperity of Palestinian people and the Middle East peace process, he said that the agreement did not only have commercial provisions, but also provisions on economic cooperation and technical support.
(EÖ-AÖ) 19.02.2004