The completion of the Black Sea ring highway and the development of the sea project motorways which will contribute to developing trade connections among the Black Sea member states, is much anticipated said Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu during a meeting of the organisation of the Black Sea Economic cooperation (BSEC) held Thursday in Yerevan, Armenia.
The Black Sea ring highway project envisages a four lane ring highway system, approximately 7,100 km long, to connect the BSEC Member States with each other. No date was given for the completion.
BSEC serves as a forum for cooperation in a wide range of areas and a platform for political dialogue for its 12 member states, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine and Turkey.
Davutoglu further said that the organization was an invaluable instrument to connecting Balkans and Caucasus through vital transportation and trade projects; thus ensuring a peaceful environment in the Black Sea region.
"Covering an area of around 20 million square kilometers, with a population of over 330 million, the trade volume of our region is only 300 billion dollars. This is much less than our potential. The region represents about 8 percent of the world economy. It is clear that more comprehensive steps can be taken in trade. We need to intensity our efforts in order to reach our true potential. This would also protect us against the negative impacts of the global economic crisis,” Davutoglu said.
Davutoglu said that developing partnerships in areas such as transportation, inter-regional trade and investment, sustainable energy, battling organized crime, science and technology, taxation, culture and tourism would contribute to regional welfare.
Within this framework, Turkey has invested in the past decade more than 75 billion dollars in transportation, maritime and communication, Davutoglu added, and said that the Marmaray project should be seen as a significant achievement not just for Turkey, but also the Black Sea region.
Also stressing the need to intensify efforts of a regional scale with a view to simplifying long term and multiple-entry visas, and giving momentum to border crossing procedures, Davutoglu said "Georgia is a very good example that shows that neither a passport nor a visa is required to travel between our countries."
The meeting was the 29th time foreign ministers of Black Sea countries met.
By Meltem Uzun
englishnews@aa.com.tr
