Turkey ranks second after China in world for undertaking contracting projects
Turkey has assumed more than seven thousand contracting projects worth approximately $250 billion in 101 countries.
ISTANBUL
Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan called on Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to join the contracting projects in rebuilding the countries by saying "Turkey ranks second after China in the world for undertaking contracting projects."
Attending the 3rd meeting of Turkic Council for Economy Ministers, Caglayan stated that Turkic Republics had to strengthen the political and cultural relations to make the 21st century as Turkish century."
Caglayan invited Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to be more active in contracting projects by saying:
"Turkey has assumed more than seven thousand contracting projects worth approximately $250 billion in 101 countries. The country ranks second after China in the world for undertaking contracting projects."
Minister of Economic Development of Azerbaijan Sahin Mustafayev touched upon recent energy projects in the region and added:
"The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline projects have enriched the region's energy map and enabled the natural resources of the Caspian Sea to be sent to Europe."
Stating that Azerbaijan found its own solution for the economic and social issues, Mustafayev said "The successful socio-economic policies have reflected on the economy of Azerbaijan in last decade."
Kazakhstan's Minister of Economy and Budget Planning Erbolat Dossaev reminded that Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States was established upon the proposal of the President of Kazakhstan.
Pointing out that Kazakhstan would like to cooperate in areas such as energy-saving and alternative energy, Dossaev said "Kazakhstan's trade volume with Turkic-Speaking States was more than $5.8 billion in 2012."
Kyrgyzstan's Economy Minister Temir Sariev said "The council takes responsibility for cooperation issues of Turkic Speaking States."
Sariev also invited the allied countries to Kyrgyzstan to make their own investments and take advantage of investment opportunities in the country.
The Turkic Council in full, the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States is an international organization comprising Turkic countries.
It was founded on 3 October 2009 in Nakhchivan.
The General Secretariat is in İstanbul, Turkey. The member countries are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.
The remaining two Turkic states, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are not currently official members of the council due to their neutral stance; however, they are possible future members of the council.
The idea of setting up this cooperative council was first put forward by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev back in 2006.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
