Turkey’s trade volume with Iraq up 41 percent

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said that trade volume between Turkey and Iraq increased 41 percent to 2.5 billion USD in the first three months of 2012.

Total trade volume between the two countries had been only 940 million USD in 2003, added Caglayan who spoke at the 1st International Ninawa

Investment Conference organized by Turkish-Iraqi Business Council and Ninawa Investment Commission in Istanbul on Wednesday.

This figure increased to 11 billion USD in 2011, said Caglayan.

Noting that Turkish companies invested in energy area in Mosul, Caglayan said that Turkish companies could make important investments especially in oil, industry and agriculture sectors in the future.

Caglayan said that Turkey set new action plans peculiar to each state in Iraq within the scope of high-level strategic cooperation study.

Noting that Ninawa, which was one of the most important agricultural centers of Iraq, had many deficiencies in modern infrastructure, Caglayan said that Turkish and Iraqi businessmen would eliminate all those deficiencies.

Caglayan said that Turkish construction companies had undertaken 638 projects worth of 12.7 billion USD in Iraq since 1975.

11.3 billion USD of those projects were made after 2003, he added.

Caglayan also said that Turkish Airlines (THY) began to hold flights to Mosul four times a week since the beginning of November 2011.

Turkey has no secret agenda on Iraq

Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan met with Iraq's Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi in Istanbul.

Before the closed-door meeting, Caglayan said Turkey's political, cultural and economic relations with Iraq had been improving rapidly.

Mosul, the second biggest city of Iraq, has been developing day by day and has become an available one for investments, he said.

Caglayan said Turkey never had a secret agenda on Iraq, stating that Turkey only wanted unity and brotherhood in Iraq as well as the country's rich resources to be used by all Iraqi people. Turkey hoped that Iraqi politicians would exert great efforts for unity in Iraq, he said.

Al-Nujaifi said that there were deep-rooted relations between Turkey and Iraq.

Turkey never made discrimination among political parties and ethnic groups in Iraq, he said.

Turkey, which always supported Iraq, was of great importance for Iraqi people, he said.