Moldovan PM sees Turkey as strategic partner

Prime Minister Vlad Filat on October 10 attended the Moldovan-Turkish trade and investment forum at the Leogrand hotel in Chisinau, the government's communication and media relations department has reported.

Attending the event were Regional Development and Construction Minister Marcel Raducan, Turkish Ambassador to Moldova Selim Kartal and the president of the Turkish and Moldovan Businessmen Association, Abdurrahman Sezis.

The business forum was organized by the Moldovan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with the Moldovan and Turkish Businessmen Association (MTIAD) and the Turkish Confederation of Industrialists and Businessmen (TUSKON). The forum is meant to promote and develop cooperation ties between Moldovan and Turkish entrepreneurs.

The Turkish official praised the cooperation level between both countries, saying Turkey ranks the ninth amongst Moldova's economic partners as regards the volume of investments (almost 22 million dollars) and the sixth in terms of goods export to Moldova (367 million dollars).

Filat wished the Turkish businessmen to establish new ties and relations on the Moldovan trade market, and to fully consolidate the existent ones, which will lead to boosting the Moldovan-Turkish economic ties.

Filat said Turkey is a strategic economic partner for Moldova, it is a model when it comes to developing the national economy and facing challenges given the regional and world crisis.

«Our interest in the relations with Turkey is a big one, given the position this country has at the international level. Turkey has the fastest growth of the Gross Domestic Product at the European level and ranks the 16th in the list of the largest economies of the world. This clearly proves that Moldova should not only establish ties, but also learn how to develop its economy from its Turkish partners,» Filat said.

At the same time, Filat said that the exchange of experience is important to carry out the economic growth, so needed to Moldova. He noted that the figures representing the content of the bilateral economic relations are relevant. In the context, he stressed that in 2011, a significant rise in the bilateral trade relations was recorded, and it is needed that this growth should be balanced both at the imports and exports level.

Filat also said that the Moldovan-Turkish relations' goals are signing the visa free agreement, the declaration of strategic partnership between Moldova and Turkey and the agreement on liberalization of aeronautic transport.

Filat expressed gratitude to the projects financed by the Turkish government, which are focused on the quality of Moldovans' living conditions, namely of those from Gagauzia.

The Turkish ambassador expressed conviction that the forume will be fruitful and will give concrete results.

Adapted from Moldpres