Turkey plans to increase foreign trade to $500bn by 2023

Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said here on Thursday that his country aims to increase the value of its foreign trade to USD 500 billion by 2023 and works is in full swing to turn this plan into reality on the ground.
In a press conference, he noted that the Turkish economy has grown by 5 percent in 2014.
He blamed the less-than-expected growth rate to the grave repercussions of the geopolitical factors in the region on the national economy.
Zeybekci added that Turkey continued to attract more investments in 2014 and managed to further reduce trade deficit.
He stated that Turkey has reached a significant development in its bilateral economic relations with Russia, Iran, Iraq and other neighboring countries.
The African continent would be the next target of Turkey's push for expanding trading relations with the world, he said.