Turkey, US work on visa facilitation

ANKARA

A Turkish-American economic and trade meeting was convened yesterday with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan; Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan; the acting U.S. secretary of commerce, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank; and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk.

The ministers said they trusted in Turkish-American relations and that they had met to see what could be done to improve trade. Çağlayan said the trade volume between the two countries was $16 billion in 2009 and it reached $21 billion in 2011, while Kirk said U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan had decided to intensify bilateral trade.

The ministers took two questions but answered only one of them. Babacan said there was work going on to lift visa requirements but the process would need more time and approval by the U.S. Congress. The ministers did not answer questions concerning Syria.