TIRANA - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday Turkey had been taking decisive steps towards full membership to EU.
Erdogan, together with his Albanian counterpart Sali Berisha, attended a meeting of the Turkish-Albanian Business Council in Tirana.
"We share same geography and common history and culture with Albania," Erdogan said during the meeting.
He also said the improvement to be achieved in commercial and economic relations between the two countries would contribute to the prosperity of the region as well.
Erdogan said the trade volume between Turkey and Albania grew three times over the last 5 years and reached 318 million USD in 2007.
"The amount of Turkish investments in Albania reached 620 million USD currently," he added.
Erdogan said the Turkish-Albanian Free Trade Agreement to come into force soon would pave the way for a remarkable increase in the trade volume between the countries, moreover it would encourage investments and establishment of joint ventures.
Meanwhile, Erdogan called on Albanian entrepreneurs to make investments in Turkey.
He said foreign companies could easily invest in Turkey thanks to the country`s recently adopted law on foreign direct investments.
Commenting on Turkey`s EU accession process as well, Erdogan said the country walked in a determined way towards full membership, and as a candidate country, its negotiation process continued.
-BERISHA-
On the other hand, Berisha said Turkish investments in Albanian telecommunication, banking, textile and metallurgy sectors increased recently.
Inviting Turkish investors to his country, Berisha said Albania could benefit from Turkey`s experience in tourism sector as well.
After attending a luncheon with Turkish and Albanian businessmen, Prime Minister Erdogan was received by Albanian President Basmir Topi.
Erdogan`s meeting with Topi was closed to press.
(DO-MS)