Turkey-African countries trade rises 140 percent

Tuzmen said he believed that the trade volume would be $50 billion by 2012, at the inauguration of the "Turkish-African Business Forum", an event of the Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit, hosted by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK) in Istanbul.

"The trade volume between Turkey and African countries increased 55 percent in the first half of 2008," he said and added that it would reach $19 billion by the end of 2008.

Tuzmen said Africa had a great potential and that Turkey started to implement a new African strategy at the beginning of 2003, and has since signed commercial and economic cooperation agreements with nine African countries, as well as free trade agreements with Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

Photo: Hurriyet Archives