Latin American countries, which have become central on Turkey's agenda with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's official visits to Colombia, Cuba and Mexico, provide new opportunities for Turkey to reach its $500 billion export volume goal by 2023.The Turkey-Columbia Business Forum was held in Columbia and attended by Erdoğan as well as his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos. Saying that Columbia is one of the most important trading partners of Turkey in Latin America and the Caribbean, Erdoğan stressed, "I think Turkey and Columbia, which both have great dynamism and potential, also have the strength to reflect their growth rates and rising international profiles in bilateral relations." Erdoğan said that the trade volume of around $1.4 billion between the two countries is not satisfactory and that they aim to increase this figure to $5 billion by 2023.According to Erdoğan, Turkey and Columbia took some serious steps toward potential construction projects that can be jointly undertaken. Turkey is ready to share its experiences in infrastructure, superstructure and residential development with Columbia, Erdoğan added.Santos highlighted that Turkey and Colombia have great potential and he believes in the power of positive contributions of steps such as mutual abolishment of visa requirements and opening embassies to facilitate better bilateral relations. In reference to Turkey's great accomplishments in recent years, Santos noted that Turkey has achieved phenomenal growth and outperformed Italy and France in certain sectors. "Turkey is one of the leading countries in the tourism sector," he added, stressing that the great number of tourists visiting Turkey is an opportunity to strengthen the synergy between the two countries.Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) Chairman Ömer Chad Vardan, who hosted the meeting, said, "For us, Latin America is a promising economic partner with its population of 580 million, its economic growth of $4 trillion and its foreign trade volume of around $2 trillion."Last year, Turkey actualized a total of $151.292 billion worth of exports, but the Latin American market has only a 1.74 percent share of this export volume.Although Latin America's annual import volume is more than $1 trillion, Turkey's exports to the region remained at $2.641 billion last year with 22 of the 1,000 shares of this large market. According to the latest data, Mexico, Colombia and Cuba have a total market size of $447.585 billion. In 2014, Turkey conducted $309 million, $184 million and $20 million worth of exports to Mexico, Colombia and Cuba, respectively. With these export figures, Turkey had a 0.08 percent share of Mexico's imports and a 0.03 percent of both Columbia and Cuba's imports. During an interview with Anadolu Agency, Kemal Çolakoğlu, the honorary consul of Mexico in İzmir, said Mexico's membership in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Turkey's membership in the EU Customs Union can help the two countries support each other's exports in these regions. Çolakoğlu also noted that Mexico and Turkey have the potential to achieve a greater volume in trade with their populations of 111 million and 77 million, respectfully.