Turkey, Mali sign MoU for economic cooperation

Turkish Minister of Development Cevdet Yilmaz and Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Tieman Coulibaly signed Thursday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of the second term of the Turkey-Mali Joint Economic Commission. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Yilmaz said "Turkey is determined to build a coopeation based upon peace and stability with Mali." "We held bilateral talks to launch the negotiations for free trade agreement with West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) of which Mali is a member" the minister said. Coulibaly, who emphasized that the penned agreements would accelerate the relationship between Mali and Turkey, said "We need Turkey's back up and experience, and commitments to build stable peace in Mali." The MoU concerned the development of the economic cooperation between the two countries. The commercial volume was 5 million USD between Turkey and Mali in 2003, but now the commercial volume reached 21.3 million USD at the end of 2012. Turkey's exports to Mali were 19.3 million USD in 2012; on the other hand, Turkey's import from Mali was 2 million USD in 2012.