Caglayan proceeds to Brazil from Chile for trade talks

After completing his talks in Chile, which resulted in signing of a free trade agreement, which marks the firs such agreement signed between Turkey and a Latin American country, State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan proceeded to Brazil for high-level talks with an eye to boosting Turkey's trade ties with the 10th largest economy in the world, and hosting a Turkey-Brazil Trade Fair. Speaking to reporters in Sao Paolo, Caglayan said he hopes his talks here will lead to the signing of a free agreement with Brazil, a member of the four-nation trading bloc Mercosur, which also includes Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, as well. He said that if Turkey could successfully sign an agreement with the countries, he was confident that trade between Brazil and Turkey would surge to about $5 billion from its current level of about $1.5 billion. To this end, he will be meeting with Brazilian Trade Minister Welber Barral, Minister of Mines and Energy Edison Lobao and Foreign Minister Celso Amorim. The talks are to focus on diversifying trade, planning a joint economic commission meeting that is set for October and ways in which Turkish and Brazilian businessmen can improve investments in each other's countries. In Sao Paolo, Caglayan and the accompanying delegation of 80-plus Turkish businessmen representing more than 50 companies from various sectors will also attend a meeting of Turkey-Brazil Business Forum. In related news, as part of Caglayan's talks in Chile, the two countries agreed on renewable energy cooperation. Caglayan met with Chilean Minister of Energy Marcelo Ramos Tokman and Minister of Public Works Sergio Bitar in Santiago to discuss cooperation opportunities. During his meeting with Caglayan, Bitar welcomed Turkey's experienced construction contractors aiming to enter infrastructure and superstructure projects in Chile, pledging to extend know-how and other types of support to them. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Caglayan said Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) could cooperate with its Chilean counterpart in joint oil exploration. He said Turkish and Chilean technical teams would come together soon and discuss cooperation opportunities particularly in energy.