ISTANBUL
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said that Turkey was one of the most important trade and investment partners of the Netherlands.
Turkish economy grew rapidly in the past ten years, and we envy this growth rate, added Rutte who spoke at a round-table meeting with Turkish Deputy Premier Ali Babacan as well as Turkish and Dutch CEOs in Istanbul on Wednesday.
Turkey is still able to record nearly three percent growth, Rutte said.
Noting that total annual trade volume of Turkey and the Netherlands was over seven billion USD, Rutte said that he discussed how to boost commercial and economic relations during meetings with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Meanwhile, Babacan said that 2012 was important as it was the 400th year of establishing Turkish-Dutch bilateral relations.
Our total trade volume reached 7.3 billion USD last year, said Babacan, adding that they expected direct investments made by the Netherlands in Turkey to exceed 16 billion USD by the end of this year.
Babacan said that more than 1.2 million Dutch tourists visited Turkey in 2011.
