Turkish State Minister Nazim Ekren and visiting Syrian Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdallah al-Dardari held talks on Wednesday to promote economic ties.

    Ekren said bilateral relations between the two countries progressed considerably over the past years after mutual visits by Turkish and Syrian prime ministers.

    "Today we will discuss with our Syrian counterpart concrete steps to boost further bilateral relations, and I hope our talks will yield positive results for businessmen and peoples of the two countries," Ekren told reporters.

    For his part, al-Dardari said that both Syria and Turkey worked to preserve regional stability and security.

    He said his government aimed at improving air, sea and land transportation facilities, adding that a Syrian-Turkish economic forum meeting is scheduled for April.

    Al-Dardari also said that a pipeline project between Turkey and Syria, which would carry Egyptian natural gas, will be completed by mid 2009.