Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Monday that Turkey and Bulgaria had the potential to raise the trade volume to $10 billion.

"Trade between the two countries is more than 2.5 billion Euro. Our first target must be $5 billion and then we must raise it to $10 billion. We have such potential," Gul told in his address to Turkish and Bulgarian businessmen at a forum meeting in Sofia.

Gul attended the meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart Georgi Parvanov.

In his speech, Gul said relations had been boosted in past two decades and should be carried forward as governments had the will to achieve that goal.

Gul called on Bulgarian businessmen to invest in Turkey, adding: "We have everything to make things easier for you. We have minimized red tape in Turkey."

Gul also said that energy was an important issue for the two countries as Turkey and Bulgaria were two partners in Nabucco pipeline, a proposed pipeline to carry natural gas from the East to Europe. He said: "We will carry out this project together."

For his part, Parvanov expressed pleasure over friendly relations with Turkey and said higher trade volume could be achieved if confidence is built between the governments of both countries.

"$10 billion trade volume might be challenging but it is an achievable target," Parvanov said.

Parvanov asked Turkish and Bulgarian businessmen to increase contacts, adding that tourism could be a very good area to boost cooperation.

AA