Turkey, Sudan ink economic cooperation protocol

Turkey and Sudan signed an economic cooperation protocol on Wednesday after the two-day talks between the agriculture ministers of the two countries. Turkish Agricultural Minister Mehdi Eker and his visiting Sudanese counterpart Halim Ismail Al-Mutaafi inked the Joint Economic Committee 3th Term Summit (JEC) protocol in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in a bid to boost economic relations. Sudan is the 11th largest trade partner for Turkey in Africa and 6th among the Sub-Saharan countries by 2012, according to figures released by the Turkish government. "We want to raise the trade volume between Turkey and Sudan to a much higher level than it currently stands," Eker said in a statement released by the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture. Turkey managed to achieve a 5.2 percent economic growth despite the negative effects of regional and global developments, Eker said. Turkey aims to become one of the 10 largest economies in the world by 2023, with gross domestic product of 2 trillion U.S. dollars, Eker added. Al-Mutaafi said his country wants to see the Turkish private sector in Sudan, adding "We need Turkey's economic experience."