The new investment laws in Greece and Turkey, the advantages of the agreement on avoidance of double taxation and Turkey's new legislation for the real estate and construction sectors were among the issues discussed at the 9th Greek-Turkish Business Council in Istanbul this week.

In opening the event on Thursday the council's co-president, Selim Egeli, said «a dream has come true,» referring to the recent acquisition of 46 percent of Finansbank by the National Bank of Greece. «The people who said there is mistrust between the Turks and the Greeks were not right,» he said, noting that the volume of transactions between the two countries had reached $2 billion.

His Greek counterpart, Panayiotis Koutsikos, stressed that the commercial developments constitute a significant element for the evolution of political relations between the two states, adding that «the trade volume between the two countries has increased 10 times since 1999, from $200 million to 2.1 billion in 2005.» He emphasized that the biggest construction company in Greece cooperates with Turkey's ENKA in projects in third countries.

Koutsikos also noted the high number of Greek tourists visiting Turkey, rising to 585,000 last year from 100,000 in 2004. He further noted that Turkey was the seventh-biggest market for Greek exports. «The numbers are satisfactory but the potential is even greater. We could reach $4.5-5 billion,» he said.