Turkey's foreign trade minister says Turkish-Russian trade volume should be increased

MOSCOW (A.A) - 16.03.2011 - The Turkish state minister for foreign trade said on Wednesday that the trade volume between Turkey and Russia should be increased.
Speaking at the Turkish-Russian Business Forum in Moscow, Turkish State Minister Zafer Caglayan said Turkey's and Russia's total population was more than 220 million, their foreign trade exceeded 1 trillion USD, however, their current trade volume was around 26.5 billion USD.
Caglayan said the trade volume between two powerful countries like Turkey and Russia should be much higher.
Delivering a speech at the gathering, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said that the wide participation in the Turkish-Russian Business Forum was beyond his expectations.
Pointing to the significant increase in the trade volume between Turkey and Russia since 2009, Sechin said the two countries would achieve the 100 billion USD goal by the year 2015.
Commenting on the nuclear power plant deal between Turkey and Russia, Sechin said the ground-breaking ceremony for the power plant would be held soon, adding that Russia used the best technology in the world for construction of nuclear plants.
Chairman Rifat Hisarciklioglu of Union of Chambers & Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) said in his part that Turkish contractors should be given a more active role in projects concerning the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and 2018 FIFA World Cup.