IZMIR - Israeli Ambassador to Turkey David Sultan said on Tuesday that water export would create a better ground for economic relations.
Speaking on the Israeli Business Culture Day organized by Aegean Free Zone Founder and Manager Inc. (ESBAS), Sultan noted that relations between Turkey and Israel had developed very much recently and expressed belief that agreement on water export would accelerate the relations.
Sultan stated that the trade volume between the two countries reached 1.2 billion U.S. dollars.
An important delegation would attend Israeli Telecom 2002 Fair in the following ten days, Sultan said. He hoped that there would be some joint investments in the fair.
Expressing belief that an official agreement on water export would be signed in the following month, Sultan pointed out that water export would create a better ground for economic cooperation.
Sultan said that they were also working on qualified industrial zones approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and expected to be ratified by the U.S. Senate.
Those zones would not only increase Turkey's exports to the United States but also improve economic relations between Israel and Turkey, Sultan noted.
Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) Turkish-Israeli Business Council Chairman Ekrem Guvendiren said that they were sure that the U.S. Senate would approve the law on the qualified industrial zones and added, ''I hope you will invite us to this free zone after the ratification of the law and we will talk about significant figures then.''
Turkey's Economic and Trade Attache in Tel Aviv Hamiyet Yagci said that Turkish businessmen faced visa problem when entering Israel and this affected trade between the two countries.
Yagci requested the ambassador to help overcome visa problems and added, ''Turkish businessmen search for partners not for business in Israel.''