Turkey is the 8th biggest agricultural economy of the world

Turkish Agriculture & Rural Affairs Minister Mehmet Mehdi Eker said on Monday that Turkey was the 8th biggest agricultural economy of the world.

"Turkey has 58 billion USD agricultural gross national product (GSMH) and 24 billion USD agricultural trade volume," Eker said while addressing the Turkish-German Economy Congress in Cologne.

"Turkish agriculture sector has shown a positive growth in the recent years despite drought and global economic crisis in the past two years," he said.

Releasing a statement the Ministry of Agriculture said that Eker, who attended the opening ceremony of "Anuga 2009 Food Fair", said Turkey attended the fair with 190 companies as a partner country.

Eker said, "Turkey has important political, economic and cultural partnerships with Germany. More than 3 million Turkish citizens live in this country. Number of German citizens residing in Turkey gradually rises, creating a bridge of friendship between the two countries."

Eker also said Turkey abided by its commitments in the EU process.

ANUGA, one of the most important trade shows for the trade and food service/catering market, is attended by 6,522 firms.