TURKISH MINISTER EXPECTS 325 BLN FOREIGN TRADE VOLUME IN 2008

ISTANBUL (A.A) - 18.06.2008 - Turkish state minister for foreign trade estimated Tuesday that Turkey's foreign trade volume would reach 325 billion USD by the end of 2008, saying exports would constitute 125 billion USD of that figure.

Speaking at the opening of the "Turkey-Asia Pacific: Foreign Trade Bridge-2" hosted
by the Confederation of Businessmen & Industrialists of Turkey (TUSKON) in Istanbul,
Kursad Tuzmen said Turkey's trade volume with Asia-Pacific countries stood at some
36 billion USD, adding that Turkey aimed to bring the figure up to 50 billion USD.

Tuzmen said Turkey took a major step in reaching out to new trade partners in 2005
when it launched a new strategy aimed at developing business ties with the
Asia-Pacific region.

"The axis of the world economy has shifted from the Atlantic to the Pacific and we
can make an important opportunity out of this shifting if we work really hard,"
Tuzmen told the meeting.

Tuzmen also said Turkey's exports to the Asia-Pacific countries had increased by 78
percent in the first quarter of 2008.

"I hope our exports to the region would reach 6 billion USD by the end of 2008 and
10 billion USD in 2010," Tuzmen said.