Turkish minister for foreign trade Kursad Tuzmen said that Turkey has offered to consider a free trade agreement with India as it plans to increase the bilateral trade to $10 billion annually by 2012.

Tuzmen told a meeting of industrialists that Turkey wanted to have a free trade agreement with India. "Our trade with India is currently around $2.7 billion annually and we want to raise it to $10 billion by 2012."

The minister also wanted flights between India and Turkey to be increased in the face of growing bilateral economic cooperation.

Turkey's annual bilateral trade with India was around $800 billion as against India's $600 billion. While Turkey's trade deficit was around $80 billion, India's was around $60 billion.

The widening of trade between the two countries would help in narrowing their trade deficits, he said, adding that India could consider utilising Turkey as gateway to the European Union for enlarging its trade with the 27-nation bloc.

Turkey as it is among the 11 countries listed by investment bankers for growth potential.

Turkish businessmen are keen on collaborating with their Indian counterparts in the areas of energy, mining, biotechnology, medicine, IT and railways, Tuzmen said at an Indo-Turkish Business Association meet.

"There exist considerable opportunities to promote economic cooperation between the Turkey and India, including joint ventures," he said.

Tuzmen said Turkey was witnessing a GDP growth of 6 per cent and the total Foreign Direct Investment in the country is likely to reach USD 100 billion.

The country is also keen to broaden their activities in the Indian market by investing in different potential sectors like food and food processing, textile, plastics, chemicals, machinery, construction material as well as taking part in infrastructure projects.