Trade Between Turkey And Israel Should Be Further Improved

ANKARA - Turkish Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Sami Guclu said on Wednesday that trade between Turkey and Israel should be further improved.
Delivering a speech at the meeting of Turkish-Israeli Joint Economic Commission (JEC), Guclu noted that relations between the two countries have developed in political, commercial and economic fields recently.
Stressing that Turkish government had determination to take every kind of measure and put into practice measures to bring Turkish-Israeli relations to a level that would be a model for regional countries, Guclu noted that JEC meeting was a significant step in that respect.
Guclu said that although there was a free trade agreement between Turkey and Israel, trade could not be brought to a desired level, adding that trade volume between the two countries amounted to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2003.
Stating that some positive developments started to take place in bilateral commercial relations as of the beginning of 2004, Guclu noted that Turkey's imports from Israel increased by 25 percent, while exports to Israel rose by 21 percent in the first six months of 2004. He added that they expected trade volume between the two countries to reach 2 billion U.S. dollars this year.
Guclu said that there were 118 Israeli companies in Turkey, while there was fewer number of Turkish companies in Israel, underlining that joint initiatives should be launched in investment and service sectors.
(EÖ-AÖ) 14.07.2004