Turkish minister praises UAE-Turkey ties

Abu Dhabi, Dec 31, 2009 (WAM)- Turkish Minister of Foreign Trade, Zafer Caglayan, has underscored the outstanding and historic relations between the UAE and his country and Ankara's commitment to further boost those ties in all areas and to activate the relations of partnership between the two countries in the areas of economy, trade, investment and culture.
The Turkish minister made the statement during a meeting here with members of the Turkey Business Council. Turkish Ambassador, Yilmaz Vural Altay, was present at the meeting during which the minister said he had noticed during his visit to the UAE and his meeting with UAE officials that there is no problem or serious concern about the Dubai World debt issue. He described the UAE economy as "strong" and expressed the hope that relations between the two countries would grow to the highest level.
He pointed out that he had discussed with UAE officials the situation of Turkish investors and contractors in the UAE. He put the total volume of Turkish businesses in the country to about two billion dollars, according to figures given by the chairman of the Turkish Contractors Union. He predicted that Turkish investment in the region is highly expected to reach about US$300 billion in the next five years and expressed his country's commitment to boost cooperation with the UAE.