HELSINKI (AA) - Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen, who is currently paying an official visit to Finland, met Finnish Foreign Trade & Development Minister Paula Lehtomaki and Trade & Industry Minister Mauri Pekkarinen.
During his meeting with Lehtomaki, Tuzmen stressed that they expected that countries which signed free trade agreement with the European Union (EU) would sign this agreement with Turkey as well.
Noting that trade volume between Turkey and Finland would exceed 1 billion USD this year, Tuzmen said that they aimed to increase trade volume to 3 billion USD.
Lehtomaki stressed that they are supporting the decision as regards starting accession talks with Turkey, indicating that this issue was on their agenda. Lehtomaki added that 80,000 Finnish tourist were visiting Turkey every year.
Prior to his meeting with Finnish ministers, Tuzmen met Turkish businessmen in Helsinki.
2005-05-20