Tuzmen: Turkey's Foreign Trade Volume Will Exceed 150 Billion Dollars This Year

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said on Tuesday, ''Turkey's foreign trade volume will exceed 150 billion U.S. dollars this year and it will reach to 175 billion U.S. dollars in 2005.''
     Speaking at budget debates of Foreign Trade Undersecretariat at Turkish Parliamentary General Assembly on Tuesday, Tuzmen said, ''Turkish economy shrank 9.5 percent in 2001 and then it passed through a recovery process after 2002, and increase rate of gross national product (GNP) became 7.9 percent. Performance of economy decreased in second quarter of 2003 due to Iraq War, but as the war lasted short, positive signals were taken from economy. GNP increased 5.6 percent in the third quarter of 2003 and it rose by 7.2 percent in the last quarter of 2003.''
     ''High increase in industrial production and capacity utilization rates also increased GNP 12.4 percent in the first quarter of 2004. The growth speeded up in the second quarter and rose to 14.4 percent,'' added Tuzmen.
     Tuzmen noted, ''a 'strategy coordination group in 2005 and after 2005' was established under coordination of Foreign Trade Undersecretariat to provide coordination regarding affects of strong competition on sector which will emerge when quotas on world textile and ready-made clothing trade will be lifted in 2005.''
     Explaining activities of government under ''strategy for development of trade with neighboring and surrounding countries'', Tuzmen said, ''export of Turkey to this market covering 47 countries increased by 37.2 percent in January-November period of 2004 when compared to the same period of 2003, and reached to 16.8 billion U.S. dollars.''
     Tuzmen said, ''foreign trade diplomacy was very successful in 2004. Contractor firms undertook 262 projects worth of 5.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first 10 months of 2004. Thus, 10 billion U.S. dollars threshold will be exceeded before 2010.''
     (GC-A֩
2004-12-21