Chamber aims to raise trade with Armenia

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Diyadin Gezer of the Diyarbakır Chamber of Commerce is seen in this photo. DHA photo

Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakır is working on how to increase trade with Armenia three to five times the existing trade volume, according to the Diyarbakır Chamber of Commerce Deputy-Chairman Diyadin Gezer at the end of a seven-day visit to Yerevan.

Gezer had accompanied a delegation of 50 businessmen to meet with Armenian counterparts in a bid to increase cooperation and trade between the two countries.

Turkey’s trade with neighbor countries has increased from 10 to 35 percent of the country’s whole trade volume, according to Gezer, who said they aimed to make this figure 60 percent, an average figure according to world standards.

“We think Armenia is very important for this region. We want to increase the existing $300 million trade volume between the two countries three to five folds,” Gezer said.

Turkey currently trades with Armenia through Georgia, which increases the cost of Turkish products sold in Armenia by 60 percent, according to Nevin İl, the chairwoman of Southeastern Businesswomen Association (DOGÜNKAD). “This is both [Armenia’s] and our loss,” she said