KHARTOUM, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Monday vowed to remove all barriers hampering trade ties between Sudan and Turkey.

Al-Bashir made the pledge when addressing the Sudanese-Turkish economic forum in presence of his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Sudanese president called for establishment of a Turkish bank in Sudan to facilitate trade exchange between the two countries. He also called for increasing the volume of the annual trade exchange between Sudan and Turkey to 10 billion U.S. dollars from current 500 million dollars.

Al-Bashir further urged the Turkish private sector to increase its investments in Sudan and benefit from the natural resources available in Sudan.

The Sudanese-Turkish economic forum kicked off sessions in Khartoum Monday with participation of around 200 businessmen from both countries together with a number of experts and economists.

Erdogan on Sunday arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum as the first stop of his tour in Africa that will also take him to Chad and Tunisia.

Erdogan's visit marked the first time that a Turkish president has visited Sudan since the independence of the North African nation in 1956.