ANKARA
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that following a free trade agreement, Turkish-Moldovan relations would be developed more with a strategic council too.
In a joint press conference with his Moldovan counterpart Vladimir Filat, Erdogan said that Turkey and Moldova signed seven agreements today.
Noting that the construction of embassy buildings were continuing in the lands which the two countries allocated to each other, Erdogan said that the traffic between the two countries would positively be affected with the visa exemption agreement signed today.
Many positive effects of visa exemption will be seen in economic, commercial, cultural and touristic areas in the future, said Erdogan, adding that the current trade volume between the two countries was 450 million USD, and expressed hope that it would reach 500 million USD by the end of this year.
We gave required directives to our ministers for a free trade agreement, said Erdogan, adding that the agreement could be signed by the end of this year.
Moldovan tourists in Turkey would increase after the visa exemption agreement signed
Moldovan Prime Minister Vladimir Filat also underlined basis of Turkish-Moldovan relations.
2012 is the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Turkey and Moldova, said Filat, adding that the two countries developed the relations successfully within that period.
Noting that nearly 85,000 Moldovan citizens visited Turkey last year, Filat said that the number of Moldovan tourists in Turkey would increase after the visa exemption agreement signed between the two countries.
We also wanted to sign free trade agreement with Turkey too, he said.
Filat promises to support Turkish businessmen investing in his country
Filat also invited Turkish businessmen to invest in Moldova and promised that they would support those businessmen.
Attending Turkey-Moldova Commerce & Investment Forum, Filat said that they would do their best to sign free trade agreement with Turkey as soon as possible.
Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, who also attended the forum, said that Turkish contractor sector was the second in the world after China, adding that Turkish contractors were making 6,663 projects worth of 226 billion USD in 96 countries.
We are planning to sign free trade agreement with Moldova by the end of this year, said Caglayan, adding that Turkey signed FTA with 18 countries so far. Filat said that they were looking forward to host Erdogan in Moldova next year.
