Arab News: The 7th joint meeting of the Turkish-Saudi Business Council, held in Ankara was "successful" and will help Turkey to expand its trade with the Kingdom, according to Turkey's Ambassador Naci Koru.

Koru, who met  the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to finalize the visit of Turkish President Abdullah Gul in February, told Arab News that the opening of the proposed joint venture Makkah-Istanbul railway in the near future would further improve trade relations between the two countries. "Trade can be further expanded by mutual investments, and Turkey welcomes Saudi companies to invest in Turkey," he said, adding that  banking, real estate, telecom and tourism are among the sectors in which Saudi investors can show increased interest.

According to him, the two-way trade exceeds $ 4 billion, with the balance remaining in favor of the Kingdom. "Our annual exports of $ 1.6 billion include mostly automotive spare parts, steel, cement, fruit and vegetables, while we import oil from the Kingdom," he said.

 
The country receives 22 million annually, a significant number of them from Germany, Russia and the UK. "Visitors from the Kingdom are also increasing," he said.