TEHRAN, Iran

Turkey’s Industry Minister Fikri Isik called on the Developing-8 industry ministers to participate in creating a joint venture car brand by member states Wednesday.

Speaking at the summit of Developing-8 industry ministers in the Iranian capital, Tehran, Isik said that volume of bilateral trade between member states had doubled between 2000 and 2011, but that the aim is to increase bilateral trade to 20 percent of overall trade by 2018. Total trade among member states was $130 billion in 2011.

 “We need to reflect this cooperation between member states with solid projects and move it to further levels,“ Isik said. “We have started a domestic car project, and I invite member states to take more initiatives and to develop our cooperation.”

 Turkey has considered a project to create a national car brand since 2010. The aim is to boost exports, as well as to reduce the economy's major headache, its current account deficit.

The secretary-general of the organization, Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi, said that task force meetings carried out prior to the ministers' summit with the participation of private and public sector representatives from member states were very positive, and urged government officials to support them in their projects.

“With joint investments and projects, we can significantly contribute to development of our economies. But we can’t do it without the participation of private sector.” Mousavi said.

Iran, Turkey and Bangladesh participate in the summit at the ministerial level, while others at the ambassadorial level. The final declaration of the meeting by the attending ministers will be published Wednesday.

The Developing-8 is an organization which aims to foster cooperation among Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey and to improve member states’ visibility and status in the global economy.