Turkish foreign trade minister said on Friday that they expected a 11 percent growth in the economy in the first quarter of 2010.

Delivering a speech at a meeting of Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO), State Minister Zafer Caglayan said despite global economic crisis, Turkish economy grew by 6 percent in the last quarter of 2009.

Exports figures have to be increased to contribute to growth and employment, Caglayan said.

"Turkey made 32.7 billion U.S. dollar service exports and 16.5 U.S. dollar service imports in 2009. Turkey has been advancing to become a leading service exporter in the world," he said.

Export-oriented incentive system would be in practice in Turkey in 2011, he said.

Caglayan said they were working to make Turkey a country exporting 500 billion USD of products in 2023.

"I expect that Turkey's exports will probably become 115 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2010," he added.

AA