Arab News reported that the 7th joint meeting of the Turkish Saudi Business Council which concluded in Ankara last week was successful and will help Turkey to expand its trade with Saudi Arabia.

Mr Naci Koru ambassador of Turkey to Saudi Arabia said that the opening of the proposed JV Makkah Istanbul railway in the near future would further improve trade relations between the two countries. He said that "Trade can be further expanded by mutual investments and Turkey welcomes Saudi companies to invest in Turkey."

Mr Koru added that the trade volume between the two countries was around USD 4.6 billion in the first 9 months of 2008, with a 69% rise over the same period of 2007. Turkey has formulated a 5 year objective to increase its trade volume with Saudi Arabia to USD 15 billion.