Egypt, Turkey discuss free trade zone

Turkey holds talks with five countries, including Egypt, to establish free trade zones, a Turkish diplomat in Egypt said Thursday.

The Turkish commercial attach? in Cairo told reporters Turkey had signed agreements in this respect with 15 countries.

The aim of an agreement with Egypt is to establish a balanced trade exchange between the two countries and increase their investments, he added.

He urged operation of a maritime line between Egyptian and Turkish ports. The volume of trade between the two countries declined from dlrs 513 million in 2001 to dlrs 430 million in 2002 as a result of a plummet in the value of Turkish exports to Egypt from dlrs 421 million in 2001 to dlrs 316 million in 2003 despite an increase of Egyptian exports to Turkey from dlrs 92 million in 2001 to 114 million last year.