ATHENS - Turkish Foreign Trade Undersecretary Tuncer Kayalar recalled on Thursday that Turkey's export had reached 47 billion dollars last year and said that Turkey entered among the first 30 exporters of the world.
Kayalar attended the meeting in Athens which was held to increase economic and commercial cooperation of two countries.
Kayalar said that the meetings which Turkish businessmen would hold in Athens and Thessaloniki would accelerate commercial relations of two countries significantly.
Noting that mutual trade volume with neighboring and surrounding countries increased 40 percent and reached 24 billion dollars last year, Kayalar said that thus, the share of those countries in Turkey's general trade volume rose to 21 percent.
Recalling that the dialogue process between Turkey and Greece has started after the earthquake in Turkey in 1999, Kayalar said that more than 15 agreements and protocols had been signed in the last five years which developed relations between two countries.
Kayalar said, ''this is a very important figure. Because the last agreement we signed with Greece was 30 years ago before this process has started. Today, legal frame, which will provide the opportunity to develop economic and commercial relations between Greece and Turkey, has been completed.''
Noting that trade amount between two countries increased nearly hundred percent in the last five years with those developments, Kayalar said that the bilateral trade volume, which was 694 million U.S. dollars in 1999, reached more than 1.3 billion U.S. dollars last year.
Stressing that 912 million U.S. dollars of trade volume of Turkey last year was provided with exports to Greece, Kayalar said that Turkey's export rate which increased 130 percent in this period made Greece Turkey's second important trade partner in Balkans.
(GC-AY) 22.04.2004