India, CIS countries eye stronger cooperation with Turkey

Trade between Turkey and India reached $3 billion in the last two years, India-Turkey Business Council head G.B.S Raju said yesterday. India and Turkey have managed to overcome the difficulties of the global economic crisis, added Raju, who is also chairman of GMR International Group. "The trade statistics available for the first six months already tell a different story. While India's exports have grown by 97 percent, Turkey's exports to India have grown 38 percent," he said, speaking in Istanbul at the India-Turkey-CIS Business Forum, organized by Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Board. He said that India places great importance on its partnerships with Turkey and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, and has also invited Turkish firms to take part in Indian infrastructure projects. "We're aware of the impressive global ranking of Turkish construction companies," he added. "India is a land of infrastructure. India is planning to invest over $500 billion in infrastructure between 2007 and 2012. This figure will eventually reach $1 trillion." Also speaking to the forum, Industry and Trade Minister Nihat Ergun underlined the growing economic potential of Turkey, India and CIS countries. "There are important changes in the world, and eastern countries are gaining more importance every day," he said. Turkish exports to India reached $411 million last year, while imports totaled $1.9 billion. In the first half of this year, Turkey exported goods worth $257 million to India and imported goods worth $1.89 billion, according to the Prime Ministry's Foreign Trade Undersecretariat.