Turkish minister wants more Turkish goods in Asia-Pacific markets

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said Monday his country wants to see more "Made in Turkey" tagged products in Asia-Pacific market that has a trade volume of $7 trillion. Speaking at the opening of the Asia-Pacific Retail Convention & Exhibition (APRC) in Istanbul Caglayan stated around 7,000 retailers that serve 3.5 billion people at 600,000 sale points have participated in the convention. Saying that it is the first time Istanbul is hosting this meeting, Caglayan added: "Istanbul was the biggest trade center between 15th and 19th century. We are continuing our efforts to make Istanbul a financial center in the world. Istanbul is the western door of the Silk Road that lies in a point of intersection of Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and means a total of 1.5 billion people and $25 trillion trade volume." Caglayan said they supported firms that aim to increase trade volume between Asia-Pacific and Turkey to $200 billion in the next decade and noted that Turkish companies have reached 92 different countries. Saying that Turkish retail business has attracted global attention, Caglayan stated that Turkey’s market attraction point (86.6) was more than China's. "While people in Europe were losing their jobs due to economic crisis, Turkey has created 5 million new jobs. The international money is coming to Turkey, JP Morgan said it will buy more bonds and has a confidence in Turkey," Caglayan said. The Asia-Pacific Retail Convention & Exhibition will end on 26 September. The convention and exhibition is organized by Asia-Pacific Retail Association Federation that represents Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Malaysian, New Zealander, and Singaporean retailers.