FRANKFURT, Jan 9 (A.A) - State Minister Tunca Toskay visited on Wednesday Heimtextil Fair (Home-Textile Fair) which started in Frankfurt city of Germany and met with representatives of Turkish companies in the fair.
Addressing the meeting, Toskay said that the exports of Turkey in 2001 which was nearly 31,1 billion dollars was not a big success for the Turkish economy.
''This figure shows that the exports increased by 14,2 percent in 2001 when compared to the previous year. Yet I consider this as a success under these conditions,'' said Toskay.
''We must oppose to the voicing of the words 'export' and 'phantom export' together,'' he said, adding that everybody in the country was against corruption.
''It is important for Turkey to increase its exports in order to have an independent and sound economy,'' said Toskay and noted that Turkey gets foreign exchange from exports and tourism.
Referring to the importance of the textile sector, Toskay said that Turkey could not give up textile sector for another 25 years.
Toskay said that 961 million dollars of 27,8 billion dollars of Turkey's exports in 2000 was earned by exports of home textile, adding that Germany and the U.S. are important markets in home textile.
A total of 3,155 companies including 132 Turkish ones from 71 countries attend the fair in Frankfurt.