Caglayan urges Turkey, India to sign FTA

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan stated that Turkey and India are two countries that complement each other and suggested that in order to improve commercial relations, the countries should sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), at the Turkey-India Trade and Investment Forum in Istanbul on Friday. "Another way of improving our commercial ties is to sign an FTA as soon as possible," Caglayan said, speaking at the forum, after encouraging businesspeople from the two countries on investment. Turkey currently has FTAs with 15 nations as well as with members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), a free trade organization of four non-European Union member states in Europe. The minister urged Turkish and Indian businesspeople to take advantage of global cooperation and seek mutual investments at the forum, which was held by one of Turkey's key business groups the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON). Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari and his accompanying delegation of businessmen attended the forum, where further opportunities for economic cooperation between the two countries were discussed. Ansari expressed his faith in the cooperation of businesses and industries and said the mutual economic and trade agreements already in place are the driving force between the countries. He predicted that mutual trade would reach $6.5-7 billion in 2012, which exceeds the goal of $5 billion by 2012, which was determined during Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to India in 2008. The trade volume was $1.5 billion in 2005 and reached $4 billion in 2010, more than doubling in five years. Ansari started his six-day visit to Turkey on Oct. 10 to expand the relationship with Turkey and had separate meetings with President Abdullah Gul, Erdogan and Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek. During his meeting with Gul on Tuesday, he discussed more Turkish investment to develop India's infrastructure.