Turkey to strengthen trade ties with Asia: PM Yıldırım

Turkey would deepen its trade ties with Asian countries including Vietnam, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Thursday.

"Our country will maintain its strategy to increase its trade and economic effectiveness in the Far East, mainly in Asian market," the Turkish premier stated during his speech at Vietnam-Turkey Business Forum in Hanoi.

Yıldırım noted that ratification process of the agreement on reciprocal promotion and protection of investments, as well as prevention of double taxation, signed in 2014 with Vietnam, was finalized.

"Turkish investors contribute to Vietnam's economy by investing over $700 million," he underlined.

The premier said works for signing a free trade agreement between the two countries have accelerated.

"Cooperating with a country that has high strategic importance like Vietnam and taking this cooperation further are among our priorities," he added.

Yıldırım noted that Turkey and Vietnam are countries which have a total of $683 billion trade volume and over $1 trillion national income with their total population of 173 million in 2016.

The trade volume between Turkey and Vietnam stands at below $2 billion and it is not in proportion to potential of two countries' population, he stated.

"We aim to increase bilateral trade to at least $4 billion by 2020 at the first stage," Yıldırım said.

The prime minister noted that Turkey's export to Vietnam advanced by 16 percent in the first half of 2017, while Vietnam's export to Turkey increased by 33 percent in the same period.

"Although trade balance is not in favor of Turkey, it will be achieved by increasing and diversifying trade," he added.