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Tuesday 02 Feb 2016 - 13:03 Makkah mean time-23-4-1437
Turkish President Erdogan (Pic: Anadolu Agency)
Santiago (IINA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for promotion of trade relations between his country and the Latin American continent. During a visit to Chile in the first leg of a Latin American tour, Erdogan said on Monday he was in Latin America to pursue a "strategy of opening". "Chile is a key country for our opening in Latin America and the Caribbean. This strategy of opening of the past 10 years has gotten a very important boost," he said after meeting with Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet, according to AFP.
Trade between Turkey and Latin American countries has expanded 800 percent over the past decade, to $10 billion in 2014, and Ankara has opened new embassies around the region. Erdogan said he planned to continue forging closer ties.
"We've gone from six diplomatic missions in all of Latin America to 13. But that's not enough, and we're going to continue increasing the number of embassies," he said.
"We can increase (trade) to improve our economic relations, based on free-trade agreements," he added.
Chile and Turkey signed a free-trade agreement in 2011, and trade has since nearly doubled, to almost $ 700 million last year. As part of Erdogan's visit, the two countries also signed a deal on more cooperation between their government aid agencies.
Erdogan, who is accompanied by some 100 business leaders, is set to head to Peru on Tuesday, becoming the first Turkish president to visit this Latin American country. He will head to Ecuador on Wednesday.
AB/IINA
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