Syria, Turkey Discuss Free Trade Zone

DAMASCUS, 8 March 2004 — Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad held talks yesterday with Turkish Trade Minister Kursat Tuzmen, visiting Damascus on a mission to promote economic ties and discuss the creation of a free-trade zone. Tuzmen also met with his Syrian counterpart, Ghassan Rifai, and discussed “the future creation of a Syrian-Turkish free-trade zone and trade centers along the Syrian-Turkish border,” Syria’s state news agency SANA said. Two bilateral investment accords were signed during Tuzmen’s visit, in anticipation of a bilateral free-trade accord.