Turkish, Greek business community gather to increase cooperation

The 4th High Level Turkey-Greece Cooperation Council meeting organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) started with bilateral meetings between companies. As aimed, cooperation between Turkish and Greek businesspeople will be improved and trade volume between Turkey and Greece will be increased.

During the meeting held at a hotel in İzmir, marketing, sales and cooperation meetings began between 42 firms from Greece and more than 160 Turkish companies.

Several trade agreements were signed between the firms during the meeting, concerning the fields of agriculture, construction, building materials, metal working, telecommunications, maritime, packaging, the tourism sector and more.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Aegean Exporters Association Chairman Sabri Ünlütürk said that the meetings were held without any sector limitations and there was a large turnout.

Stressing that the aim was to improve commercial cooperation between the two countries, Ünlütürk said: "There are positive signals on this matter as well. While there was a decrease in our export numbers in 2015, we increased our export with Greece as Aegean Region, and our foreign trade was least affected by Greece. That's why we want to intensify our works more, increase the number of meetings for the next period, and improve the business ties between Turkey and Greece."

The trade volume between Turkey and Greece in 2015 was $3.3 billion. Turkey exported to Greece goods valued $1.4 billion. The products which Turkey exported to Greece were mainly petroleum, automobiles and electronics. Turkey imported goods worth $1.9 billion from Greece. The major products which Turkey bought from Greece include crude oil derivatives and cotton. Despite Greece not being amongst Turkey's major trade partners, Turkey ranks first among the countries to which Greece sells goods and services.