Invest News DetailAA - A senior official from the Turkish Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade said on Tuesday that the trade volume between Türkiye and African countries increased by 131%, thanks to the implementation of an improvement strategy targeting the African market. Tuncer Kayalar, Undersecretary for Foreign Trade, told that Türkiye's exports to African countries rose up to 5.9 billion USD, while its imports from such countries increased to 6.8 billion USD in 2007. "We expect export figures to reach 9.5 billion USD by the end of 2008," Kayalar said. Kayalar also said African countries not only constituted an ideal market for exports, but also offered cheap raw materials for industrial activities. Noting that Türkiye's Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade implemented a "Strategy for the Improvement of Economic Relations with Africa" in 2003, Kayalar said commercial and economic cooperation agreements were signed with 11 African countries since that year.