Caglayan speaks hopefully of Turkey's exports in the months to come

Stressing that this October Turkey's monthly exports exceeded $10 billion for the first time since the beginning of the global economic crisis, State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan yesterday said Turkey can readily reach its goal of $11.7 billion in monthly exports by year's-end. The October export total of nearly $10.8 billion, an increase of 16.8 percent from September and of 8.8 percent year-on-year, "shows we've achieved a steady growth trend in exports," said Caglayan. The figures also indicate that Turkey's exports to its traditional trading partners in Europe are beginning to rebound from the crisis, he said. Turkey's exports to European Union countries this October rose 17 percent over the previous month, and played a key role in the month's success, he said. Caglayan yesterday attended a meeting of Hong Kong Business Development Council as part of his talks there.