Trade with Syria OK, minister says

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Turkey’s mutual trade with both Syria and Israel is continuing, according to Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan.AA photo.

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan has said Turkey’s trade with Syria continues to increasing.

Commenting on Syria’s decision to ban import of products that have more than a 5 percent customs duty, Çağlayan said yesterday that Syria has lifted the ban, and thus, Turkey’s exports to Syria maintained the same level with last year.

“We have a serious amount of products shipping to the Arabian Peninsula via Syria,” he said

 Çağlayan also said that despite the current problems, Turkey’s trade with Israel continued, too.

Turkish companies recently undertook business worth $238 million in Turkmenistan, adding that the total amount of construction business Turkish companies undertook in Turkmenistan in 2011 reached $3.2 billion.

Trade and business with Turkmenistan is another problematic issue as Turkish companies doing business in the Asian country claim high amounts of failed payments at state projects there.