Tuzmen: "Through trade with Iran, Turkey can help cover its fuel bill"

In Iran for an official visit, State Minister for Foreign Trade Kursad Tuzmen was received yesterday by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. During the meeting, Ahmadinejad expressed his country's desire to import wheat from Turkey. Stating that Turkey also needs rice, Tuzmen said if the necessary technical conditions are met, Turkey can trade its wheat for Iranian rice. Afterwards, predicting that Turkish construction work and investment in Iran would rise in the years to come, Tuzmen said this has great importance for bilateral trade ties. "Turkey's oil and natural gas expenses this year will reach $43 billion," he said. "Thanks to such investments and business relations, Turkey can regain a substantial portion of the money spent on oil and natural gas." Touching on the pressure on Turkish banks to limit their trade relations with Iran, Tuzmen said, "This is unacceptable for Turkey. Turkey will continue to trade with Iran," He added that Ahmadnejad had also proposed cooperation in the banking sector, and an agreement on financing for a Van railway project had been reached. But Foreign Trade Undersecretariat officials said that two important export agreements remained unsigned because Iranian banks couldn't get confirmation for their letters of credit. Tuzmen also met with his Iranian counterpart Massoud Mirkazemi.