May.29--A 27-person delegation involving 22 Singapore-based companies will start their official visit to Turkey on Tuesday, eyeing enhancing bilateral trade with this non- traditional market.
    Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, alongside with other representatives from International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation, will be going to Turkey to explore business opportunities, according to a press release by Ministry of Finance.
    During their visit in Istanbul, Mr Shanmugaratnam, together with Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, will officially open IE Singapore's 36th overseas center on Wednesday, aiming at better engagement with Turkish market.
    Mr Shanmugaratnam and Mr Babacan will also speak at the Turkey- Singapore Business Forum on the same day. The delegates will use this occasion to exchange ideas and discuss business opportunities with Turkish officials and businessmen at the forum.
    The delegation represents enterprises in various sectors including urban solutions, energy, infocomm technology, financial services, automotive, commodities, trading, port management and logistics, according to local media.
    Bilateral trade value between Singapore and Turkey almost doubled from 1.2 billion Singapore dollars (960 million U.S. dollars) in 2010 to 2.2 billion Singapore dollars (1.76 billion U. S. dollars) in 2011. Singapore is also Turkey's second largest export destination after China.
    Turkey's GDP rose 8.5% in 2011, making it one of the fastest growing economies in the world.?

(Source:Xinhua)