There is something about round numbers with lots of zeros that appeals to the Turkish government. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, recently suggested there was no reason why Turkey should not become a $1,000bn economy (its 2006 gross domestic product was $410bn). He is also aiming to lift annual GDP per capita to $10,000 by 2013, from about $6,000 today.

Kursad Tuzmen, Turkey’s foreign trade minister, also likes zeros. Turkish exports on an annualised basis have just exceeded $100bn for the first time, and will be above that level for all of 2007. Although imports are much higher, swollen by a soaring energy bill, the rapid and seemingly sustained rise in Turkey’s export capacity is one of the real successes of the government’s pro-business policy of the past few years.