Turkey and Russia sign action plan to improve bilateral trade

Turkey and Russia have signed an action plan to promote bilateral trade in a bid to boost the trade volume between the two countries by up to $100 billion by 2020, daily Hürriyet reported on Sept. 6.

The action plan was signed by Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) head Rifat Hisarc?kl?o?lu and Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) head Alexander Shokhin, with a $100-billion trade target by 2020.

Hisarc?kl?o?lu said the world's economic axis was moving from "West to East" in the 21st century and that Turkey and Russia were right at the center within the new balance of powers.

Shokhin said, on the other hand, Russia had formed a customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan and it also signed a free-trade agreement with Vietnam, which would pose a formation sample for a free trade agreement between Turkey and Russia.