ANKARA - Turkey-Belarus Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting started in Ankara on Wednesday.
Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu and Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov of Belarus leads the delegations.
Speaking at the meeting, Mumcu said, ''first of all, preferential trade arrangements should be made between Turkey and Belarus to reach the commercial targets between the two countries.'' .
''Belarus became a strategic passage between the European Union (EU) and Russia. Trade volume between Turkey and Belarus was 49 million U.S. dollars last year. We aim to further increase this amount in the coming years. We have taken the first steps to this end by completing the legal frame between our countries. First of all, preferential trade arrangements should be made between Turkey and Belarus to reach the commercial targets between the two countries,'' he added.
Noting that Turkey had been supporting Belarus' membership application to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Mumcu added, ''we should take necessary measures to provide easy, uninterrupted and cheap transportation opportunities.''
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Martynov of Belarus said that they considered Turkey a very important country in the region.
Stressing that Turkish and Belarussian businessmen's mutual investments would make a significant contribution to economies of the two countries, Martynov added that Turkey and Belarus could co-operate in banking and transportation sectors.
(UK-AÖ) 26.05.2004