OREANDA-NEWS. September 27, 2011. During the meeting with the new Ambassador of Turkey to Latvia Serife Serap Ozcoskun, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis expressed satisfaction over excellent bilateral relations at all levels. During the negotiations, he particularly stressed the need to continue the development of the container train’s route that would ensure flow of Turkish goods between Turkey and Scandinavia through the territory of the Baltic countries.

The Prime Minister informed that currently Latvia is working on the container train ”Zubr” project while the Ambassador of Turkey acknowledged that the project has prospects of strengthening the economies of the two countries.

Currently the container train ”Zubr” serves the route Latvia – Belarus but in the near future it will connect Latvia with the ports of Ukraine - Odessa and Ilyichevsk, thus offering the opportunity to deliver freight by road from the Black Sea to Latvia and further to Scandinavia.

During the meeting, the officials discussed the ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in several areas, particularly strengthening the economic relations. The Prime Minister and the Ambassador expressed hope that the visit of Turkey’s entrepreneurs to Latvia that is scheduled for the end of September – beginning of October will result in new cooperation agreements between entrepreneurs of Latvia and Turkey.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Ambassador of Turkey expressed her appreciation for Latvia’s achievements in overcoming the crisis.

Indicators of trade between Latvia and Turkey:
In the first half of 2011, Latvia had a positive trade balance with Turkey that amounted to EUR 26 million. During first six month, as compared to the first half of 2010, the trade turnover between Latvia and Turkey increased by 39.20% or EUR 24.3 million, incl., export volume has increased by 365.68% or EUR 34.5 million, while import volume – by 28.09% or EUR 3.9 million. During this period, the trade turnover between Latvia and Turkey reached EUR 61.9 million ranking Turkey 23rd among foreign trade partners of Latvia.

In the first half of 2011, the main export goods to Turkey were scarp metals (55.73%), vegetable products (16.24%) and livestock products as well as mineral products (11.02%), while the main imports from Turkey – textiles and textile products (19.99%), machinery and mechanical appliances (19.90%), precious stones and precious metals (13.19%).