Malaysia and Turkey have set the target to increase their bilateral literal trade from the current value of 1.5 billion USD to 5 billion USD in five years, reported Malaysian media.

The target was made during a recent visit to Malaysia by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, PM Erdogan said there are countless opportunities for the two countries and they can take joint steps to explore the energy, automotive, information and communication technology and infrastructure fields.

The two sides issued a joint declaration on the framework for strategic cooperation between Malaysia and Turkey, paving the way for boosting bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, defence, tourism, sports and youth, energy, culture and higher education.

For his part, Malaysian PM Najib said Malaysia and Turkey are aiming to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) in April this year to bolster bilateral trade, with the final round of talks scheduled to be held in Ankara on Jan. 13.

Malaysia and Turkey started negotiations on the FTA in 2010 and since then, seven rounds of talks have been held, he said.-VNA