To: Charles A. King who wrote (9432 ) 5/27/1998 2:16:00 PM From: Charles A. King Respond to of 13091
Here are excerpts from a Reuters article about a big meeting in Turkey. The meeting is to discuss big investment projects in the region, but it would fun to pretend it something to do with Manova/GRNO. US sees big export potential in Turkey, Caucasus 11:22 a.m. May 26, 1998 Eastern By Daren Butler ISTANBUL, May 26 (Reuters) - Senior officials from Turkey and the United States will explore regional export opportunities worth more than $20 billion at a conference in Istanbul this week, a U.S. commerce official said on Tuesday. The ''Crossroads of the World'' meeting opening on Wednesday has drawn many senior U.S. officials for talks which form part of a growing initiative to develop business openings in the Black Sea, Caucasus and Central Asia regions. Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, U.S. Secretary of Energy Federico Pena and his Turkish counterpart are among those attending the conference, focused partly on a domestic energy sector set for massive growth in the coming years. David Aaron, U.S. undersecretary of commerce for international trade, said legal obstacles to Turkish energy and infrastructure projects presented a large obstacle to realising this potential. ''There are literally billions of dollars worth of opportunities just in this energy area alone,'' he told a briefing ahead of the three-day conference. The ability of Turkey's minority coalition to tackle these issues is limited by a crowded parliamentary agenda ahead of the summer recess and the prospect of early elections next spring. More than 60 project opportunities are encompassed by the conference, focusing on oil and gas, transport, electric power and mining across 14 nations in the region. Projects under discussion range from Turkish power plants to a planned rail tunnel under Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait. infoseek.com :80/Content?arn=a1395LBY101reulb-19980526&qt=turkey&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486 Charles