Caglayan eyes larger Turkish share of US imports

Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan said yesterday that Turkey's share of US imports hovers at around 0.2 percent, well below the 0.85 percent share it has of the world's total imports, and called on firms to boost this figure while strengthening bilateral cooperation. Speaking to reporters in Chicago, Caglayan said Turkey's share of the total US imports of $1.6 trillion is only $3.5 billion, adding that the government is looking into the reasons for this so Turkey's share can be raised. "We aim to increase our exports to the US to $20 billion within the next two to three years," Caglayan said. "We've prepared an action plan to boost our trade and will identify the potential sectors. I will pay another visit to the US in October." Although Turkey is number two in the world's construction sector after China, Turkish construction and consultancy companies have yet to enter the construction sector in the US, he said, stressing that they should expand their operations to this market as soon as possible. On the "model partnership" between Turkey and the US, strengthened since last year by both US President Barack Obama's visit to Turkey and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the US, Caglayan said they also expect companies from the two countries to cooperate and expand into third countries together. "Turkey might serve as a jumping board to the African, Middle Eastern and all regional markets for the US," he said.