Turkey offers to have FTA with India

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New Delhi, March 19:: Turkey has offered to have a free trade agreement (FTA) with India and boost its exports of food products, textiles, plastics, chemicals, machinery and construction materials.

The bilateral trade between the two countries has surpassed the target limit of $ one billion in 2004 and reached $ 2.6 billion in 2007.

Among agro products, Turkey wants to boosts its exports of olives and olive oil, rose oil, tomato paste, canned fruits and vegetables, pasta, pulses, pistachios, sugar and chocolate confectionery, cut flowers, fishery, bulger made from durum wheat. It also wants to export natural stones.

"With a view to aligning our preferential regime with the EU under Customs Union, we would like to initiate and conclude FTA negotiations with India. I believe that a FTA to be concluded between our two countries will stimulate trade figures to the expected levels while diversifying the products subject to bilateral trade," said the visiting Turkey minister of state for foreign trade and foreign contracting services, Kursad Tuzman.

Tuzman while speaking at the Business Forum organised by FICCI in association with Turkey's Prime Ministry Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade, Aegean Exporters' Association and Tuskon in Delhi on Wednesday invited Indian investments in mining, biotechnology, medicine, tourism including coastal development projects and hotel management, automotive, information technology, railway and energy sector.

He said that Turkish companies were interested in investing in India in areas like food and food processing, textiles, plastics, chemicals, machinery, construction and infrastructure projects. He informed that a Turkish textile company has decided to make Greenfield investment of $ 45 million in India to serve the expanding internal market and as well as the Southeast Asian market.

Tuzman, who is leading a delegation of 170 Turkish companies, also met the Union Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath on Tuesday.

Vouching for Indian investments in energy sector, he said, "Turkey is located at the epicenter of the Eurasia where four regions of the world, namely Europe, the former Soviet Union, West Asian countries and north Africa intercept. Thus Turkey's role as a crossroad in the region is best observed not only in trade or transportation corridors, but also in energy issues."

The geo-strategic position makes Turkey a leading energy corridor and a transit centre for the main oil and natural gas producers in the Caspian, Caucasus and Central Asia as well as for consumer markets in Europe, he said.