The 10th meeting of Turkey-U.S. Economic Partnership Commission (EPC) was co-chaired by Ambassador Mehmet Tuğrul Gücük, Deputy Undersecretary for Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey and Mr. Jose W. Fernandez, Assistant Secretary of State of the USA for Economic and Business Affairs on 23 May 2013.
At the meeting, mutual development of economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries and cooperation opportunities in third countries were discussed.
Speaking at the joint press conference Deputy Undersecretary Ambassador Gücük said that the EPC meeting reflects the joint decisions concerning strengthening the economic strategic partnership and further increasing the investment and trade volume between Turkey and the U.S.
Stressing that the EPC is also a key element of the Framework for Strategic Economic and Commercial Cooperation (FSECC) which was established in 2009 between the two countries Ambassador Gücük said “Increasing bilateral trade, transforming Istanbul as an international financial center, development of cooperation in information and communication technologies, promoting the common activities in entrepreneurship and innovation fields and the opportunities for cooperation in third countries were addressed.”
Ambassador Gücük also mentioned that it was agreed to hold the EPC twice a year and the two delegations agreed to meet again later this year in Washington, DC.
The 10th Meeting of Turkey-U.S. Economic Partnership Commission - Joint Statement, 23 May 2013, Ankara