World Bulletin/News Desk

Turkish Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazici stressed Friday the importance of Black Sea countries for the world economy and called for enhanced relations to increase the existing potential.

"The countries situated in the Black Sea have a very important dynamism and equity capital for the world economy. We should look for ways to enhance relations on foreign trade with joint cooperation fields," Yazici said at the 4th Black Sea Regional Meeting in the northern Turkish city of Rize.

The minister also talked about enviromental pollution in the Black Sea and urged international cooperation by saying, "We should take care of it. We should not be too late to fight against the pollution in the Black Sea and the destruction of the eco-system."

Turkey's latest economic situation was on Yazici's agenda during the meeting.

He said, "As the economic crisis is ongoing across the world, the reason why Turkey has comfortably overcome this process is human-centered economic policies. Turkey is a country which managed the crisis with the right decisions and has come through the crisis with the least damage."

Yazici also emphasized that Turkey has become one of the attraction centers of the world in terms of investment within the last 10 years.

"According to OECD figures, it is estimated that Turkey will be the fastest growing economy between 2011 and 2017. Turkey is a country with very low risk and high working potential. Turkey is the 17th biggest country in the world and the 6th biggest economy of Europe," he added.