Turkey seen as a friend

By FRAN O'SULLIVAN


New Zealand is courting Turkey not for its carpets, but for a friendly voice at the European Union.

Despite Turkey's overwhelming size (it has 71.3 million people) it is only our 57th largest trading partner. But it has a strategic location and, if the EU agrees to its accession, a voice at the table of the world's largest consumer bloc.

Cabinet Ministers used a visit by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener last week to strengthen the relationship.

Turkey has been on the radar screen since Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton led a mission there in 2000. Trade between the two countries runs at $80 million a year, but Sutton said Turkey's high tariffs were a barrier to increasing this.

Yesterday, he tipped that New Zealand was likely to enter free-trade talks with Egypt, but there were several hurdles before discussions opened with Turkey.

Sener said these included bilateral agreements on the avoidance of double taxation and reciprocal promotion of investment.

But there are also opportunities. Both countries sit on serious faultlines and Turkey is keen to get access to New Zealand "know-how". Sener inspected university earthquake engineering facilities in Christchurch and Wellington and checked out the background of New Zealand academics who are in Turkey working with companies seeking Government contracts.

Sener also declared the volume of trade between the two countries "unsatisfactory". Turkey's main New Zealand imports are wool, sheepskins and eggs. It exports grapes, raisins, nuts, apricots, rubber tyres, textiles and machinery here.

And he suggested joint-ventures were the way to increase bilateral trade. Tourism, where New Zealand has an abundance of natural beauty and Turkey with a rich historical past, also provides opportunities for trade. Agricultural engineering and export education will also be investigated.