Gul due in Saudi Arabia tomorrow to boost trade ties

President Abdullah Gul is set to pay a three-day official visit to Saudi Arabia starting tomorrow in a bid to improve bilateral trade ties. During the visit, Gul, accompanied by a large business delegation, will attend Turkish-Saudi Business Forum meetings in Jeddah and the capital Riyadh. Turkey wants to raise the current bilateral trade volume from some $4 billion to $7 billion. With the largest petroleum reserves in the world, Saudi Arabia will devote $36 billion to investments this year, and $620 billion by 2020. The country offers large opportunities in many areas, particularly construction. Boosting trade with Saudi Arabia also carries great importance as part of Turkey's efforts to diversify its foreign markets at a time of falling demand from Europe due to the global economic crisis. In line with this initiative, State Minister for Foreign Trade Kursad Tuzmen recently paid official visits to Egypt and Iran.