Turkish economy minister says Turkish contractors in Libya to get progress payments

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkish economy minister said on Wednesday that Turkish contractors in Libya would get progress payments. "Our Libya interlocutors told us that they will start to make progress payments worth 400 million USD (to Turkish contractors)," Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said replying to questions on board the plane en route to Turkish capital of Ankara from Libya. Caglayan said that Libyan Economy Minister Ahmed Al Kochli became co-chairman of Turkish-Libyan Joint Economic Committee. "We set up a permanent mechanism. Our talks will continue," he said. Libyan officials were eager on increasing capital of the Arab-Turkish Bank, he said and recalled that Turkey's Ziraat Bankasi and Is Bankasi held 35 percent of shares of the bank. Caglayan noted that the bank made a profit of 48 million TL last year.