The 6th Neighboring Countries Fair opened in Turkey's southeastern province of Gaziantep on Thursday.

Speaking at the inauguration of the fair, Turkish State Minister Zafer Caglayan said that businessmen from Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) were attending the fair.

Caglayan said that Turkish exporters travelled to 95 countries in 22 months, and each of those visits yielded positive results. He added that Turkey's trade with neighboring and surrounding countries increased six times.

Caglayan also said that thanks to initiatives of Turkey, oil products commerce between Turkey and Iraq --which stopped four years ago-- would resume soon.

Recalling that Turkey's export figures in May were announced on Wednesday, Caglayan said that the exports increased 21.73 percent in Turkey while it rose 67 percent in Gaziantep which made the city exporter champion of Turkey in May.

Caglayan said that hundreds of businessmen from Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait and TRNC were attending the fair, adding that they held 800 business contacts so far. He added that 2.6 billion USD of business deals had been made only during the meetings between delegations and businessmen held last night. He expressed belief that it would reach four billion USD by the end of the fair.