Vietnam is willing to cooperate with Turkey to boost trade relations between the two countries, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has affirmed.

Receiving Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Bulent Arinc in Hanoi on Feb. 22, PM Dung said the Vietnamese government will facilitate Turkish businesses’ investment in Vietnam .

Vietnam and Turkey are seeking measures to raise bilateral trade to 2 billion USD in several years to come from the current 800 million USD, he said.

PM Dung also spoke highly of the future signing of a cooperation deal on technical standard along with agreements on the avoidance of double taxation and investment protection between the two countries.

He also asked the Turkish government to consider the removal of anti-dumping taxes on some goods items imported from Vietnam with the aim of boosting bilateral cooperation.

The PM expressed his belief that with the efforts by both countries, the Vietnam-Turkey friendship would be more fruitful in all sectors.

Deputy PM Bulent Arinc, who is in Vietnam to attend the fifth session of the Vietnam-Turkey Joint Committee on Trade and Economy, said he was pleased to see the development of bilateral ties in the recent past, especially in trade, tourism, culture, adding that the joint committee is making efforts to build cooperation orientation in the coming time.

Many Turkish enterprises want to invest in Vietnam and enjoy favourable conditions on investment procedures created by the Vietnamese government, the Deputy PM said.

He also said that Turkey would deal with the issue of anti-dumping taxes on Vietnamese imports in accordance with WTO regulations.

The same day, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem had a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Bulent Arinc, during which he recalled his good impressions while visiting Turkey in June 2009.

Deputy PM Khiem expressed his pleasure to see the development of the Vietnam-Turkey multifaceted cooperation and asked the two sides to increase high-ranking visits to further strengthen bilateral ties.

Deputy PM Bulent Arinc showed his admiration for Vietnam’s fast development, affirming that Turkey wants to boost multisided cooperation with Vietnam.

The two Deputy PMs agreed to raise bilateral trade to 1 billion USD in 2011 and enhance cooperation in education, culture, tourism and transportation.

The two sides should sign agreements on Investment Encouragement and Protection and Avoidance of Double Taxation to create a legal framework for long-term cooperation, they said.

At their meeting the same day, Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan and Deputy PM Bulent Arinc shared the view that though being geographically far from each other, the relations between Vietnam and Turkey have developed.

While stressing that the two countries need to boos cooperation in investment, agriculture, industry and finance and banking, Vice President Doan expressed her hope that Turkey soon recognises Vietnam as a market economy, and the two countries’ related agencies need to exchange information to avoid trade barriers to create favourable conditions for goods of both countries to enter respective market.

Deputy PM Bulent Arinc informed his host of the result of the meeting of the Vietnam-Turkey joint committee, affirming that Turkey always attaches importance to cooperation with Vietnam, particularly in trade, tourism, culture and education.

Turkey wants to cooperate closely with Vietnam within the framework of the WTO of which the two countries are members, he said./.