ISTANBUL, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkey and the European Union agreed on Thursday to boost cooperation in a wide range of fields, with the focus on strengthening economic and political ties.
The consensus came as Turkish Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak and Vice President of the European Commission Jyrki Katainen co-chaired the third High Level Economic Dialogue between the two sides in Istanbul.
"We have deep relations with Turkey and we must keep a normal political dialogue," Katainen told reporters at a joint press conference with Albayrak.
"In the light of the developments happening in today's global climate, we once again underlined the importance of maintaining dialogue on economic issues," said Albayrak.
The Turkish minister also said that the economic cooperation between the two sides should be maintained more precisely and carefully than before as bilateral trade volume has reached 165 billion U.S. dollars.
Turkey is the EU's fourth largest export market and fifth largest provider of imports, while the bloc is Turkey's No. 1 market of imports and exports, according to the European Commission data.
At the meetings in Istanbul, the two sides mainly discussed the issues of structural reform, investment and trade relations and the customs union.
Turkey has been pushing for upgrading the customs union deal inked in 1995, which covers all industrial goods but does not address agriculture services and public procurement.
As part of the economic dialogue, Turkish and European business leaders met with officials of the European Commission and the Turkish government over possible areas for cooperation.
Later in the day, the EU and Turkey are scheduled to sign an agreement on co-financing the construction of the Halkali-Kapikule railway line linking the Halkali station in Istanbul and the Bulgarian border crossing point at Kapikule.
Katainen said the EU would provide 275 million euros in grants for the project, making it the single largest investment in Turkey by the bloc.
"The railway will also be a concrete step which will connect Turkey with Europe," he said.
The new line, expected to cost one billion euros in total, will provide a safe, high-speed and clean connection for freight and passengers, the EU delegation said in a statement.
Despite repeated setbacks, Ankara and Brussels have been trying to keep their dialogue channels open since Turkey's accession talks started in 2005.
Bilateral ties had particularly soured after the EU increasingly criticized the Turkish government over what it called Ankara's drift away from democracy and the European values in the wake of a failed coup in Turkey in July 2016.
