Economy ministers discuss latest developments on Turkey's exports

Chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan, the Economy Coordination Board (EKK) convened yesterday to discuss recent developments regarding Turkey's exports and the economy in general with State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and State Minister Cevdet Yilmaz in attendance. High-level economy bureaucrats and representatives from the Assembly of Turkish Exporters (TIM) attended the meeting as well. Babacan said in a statement after the meeting that TIM representatives had made a presentation about the latest developments on the country's exports, expectations and problems. "Treasury and Foreign Trade Undersecretariats were commissioned to establish a working group to assess proposals made in today's meeting and prepare a report on their assessment." In related news, State Minister Caglayan received a group of businesspeople led by Independent Businessmen's and Industrialists' Association (MUSIAD) head Omer Cihad Vardan. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Caglayan said that they had exchanged views on international business forum meetings organized by the business organization in recent years. Stating that the MUSIAD has held a series of successful such meetings in different parts of the world so far, Caglayan said that the business organization would also organize a business forum meeting in Egypt in October. Stressing that Turkey's expansion towards export markets in the Islamic world would yield important results in the months to come, Caglayan also said that he would attend the business forum meeting in Cairo with a large business delegation. For his part, Vardan called Egypt an important trade partner for Turkey, adding that the bilateral trade volume between the two countries had skyrocketed with more than 100 percent increase in recent years.