Caglayan calls on OIC countries to set up a common economic zone

State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan yesterday called on members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to set up a common economic zone. Speaking at the opening session of the 13th International Business Forum Congress in Cairo, Caglayan said that Turkey wants to develop trade with neighboring countries amid the global economic crisis. Caglayan said Turkey played no role in starting the crisis, but suffered its impact just like other developing countries. He added that the impact on Turkey was less than that on the US and the European Union, adding that Turkey's banking sector has an especially strong position. Caglayan said that last year Turkey exported products worth $132 billion to more than 200 countries, and that Turkey's trade volume with the 57 OIC member states rose from $47 billion in 2007 to $62 billion in 2008. He said that 1.4 billion people live in the OIC member states, a huge chunk of the world population. He said Islamic countries exported $1.4 trillion in products last year, out of total world exports of $16 trillion. He added that Turkey believes Islamic countries should boost their exports.