Ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Russia on April 8 to co-chair a Turkey-Russia High Level Cooperation Council meeting, Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan is scheduled to pay a visit to Russia today.
During her meeting, Pekcan is going to hold bilateral meetings with Russian Energy Minister and Joint Economic Commission Co-chair Alexander Novak and Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin.
As co-chair of the Turkey-Russia Joint Economic Commission, Pekcan will evaluate the cooperation opportunities in trade and investment potential in addition to energy, transportation, trade in local currencies, agriculture, customs and tourism during meetings.
Pekcan and her counterparts will organize the preliminary preparations for the 16th Joint Economic Commission meeting, which will be held in Turkey in addition to the INNOPROM Industrial Trade Fair scheduled to take place July 8-11 in Russia's Yekaterinburg. Turkey will participate in the industry expo as a partner country.
The bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Russia amounted to $25.7 billion last year.
In the first three months of this year, Turkey's exports to Russia rose 6.5 percent to $868 million, while imports from Russia dropped 9 percent to hit $5.4 billion, a statement from the Trade Ministry said.
To date, Turkish construction companies have realized 1,961 projects worth $73.1 billion in Russia, the statement also said.
