ISTANBUL, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish business world regarded the Greek prime minister's visit to Istanbul on Sunday as an "important step" in unlocking the full potential of bilateral trade between the two countries.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met during a luncheon closed to the press in Istanbul's Vahdettin Mansion along the Asian shores of the Bosphorus Strait.
In their almost two-hour meeting, the two leaders addressed their countries' long-lasting issues and discussed a wide range of topics, from bilateral ties to regional and international problems, Turkey's presidential office said in a statement.
This rare tete-a-tete meeting held in a friendly atmosphere is considered the start of a new era in the relations between Turkey and Greece.
Levent Sadik Ahmet, chairman of the Turkey-Greece Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK), said the close contact between Erdogan and Mitsotakis would tap the trade potential of the two countries in a wide range of fields.
"Tighter diplomatic relations with Greece will increase both the courage and motivation of the business world," Ahmet was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu agency.
The chairman specifically suggested establishing joint travel package programs to lure more tourists from the world to both countries.
He also noted that boosting mutual investments in the agriculture and energy sectors will help Turkey and Greece better cope with the scarcity threat generated by global geopolitical problems.
Ahmet also asked Greek officials to facilitate investment opportunities in Greece for Turkish businesspeople.
The trade between Turkey and Greece stood at 5.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. However, during their Sunday talks, Erdogan and Mitsotakis pledged to carry the figure to upper levels and discussed the steps to be taken to reach the trade volume target of 10 billion dollars in the future.
The Turkey-Greece Business Council, established in 1988, has been planning to organize a series of meetings to promote sector- and project-based collaborations between the business communities of the two countries in the near future, according to DEIK.
The relations between the two NATO allies have long been at odds over a series of issues, including maritime and energy problems in the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, minority, and illegal immigration.
To find diplomatic solutions to their problems, the delegations of the two countries restarted their consultative talks in 2021 after a five-year break. Ankara and Athens previously held 60 rounds of talks between 2002 and 2016 until they were suspended. ■