Turkish State Minister Said Yazicioglu said on Tuesday that the most effective and rapid way to overcome crisis was to make commerce, reported World Bulletin.
Yazicioglu and Foreign Minister Sergey Martynov of Belarus inaugurated the 6th term meeting of Turkey-Belarus Joint Economic Commission (JEC) in Ankara.
Yazicioglu said that commerce between Turkey and Belarus had improved significantly in recent years. He added that rate of Turkish exports to Belarus increased 68 percent, and imports from Belarus rose 90 percent in the first nine months of 2008. Yazicioglu said that they had reached 220 million USD of trade volume.
Yazicioglu said that Turkish contractor companies had undertaken 600 million USD of projects in Belarus so far. He also encouraged Turkish businessmen to invest in Belarus more.
He expressed hope that the tourist traffic between Turkey and Belarus would increase in coming years.
Foreign Minister Martynov of Belarus also said that trade volume between Turkey and Belarus reached 290 million USD in the first ten months of 2008.
Martynov said that economies of Turkey and Belarus were completing each other; they were not competing.
Guest minister said that the best way to overcome global crisis was to increase commerce and mutual investments.
Martynov said that there were projects worth of 24-26 billion USD in Belarus in 2008-2012 period; and welcomed the will of Turkish investors and contractors to participate in those projects.