Business figure calls for Turkey-Egypt economic ties

By Erdal Celikel

ANKARA (AA) - Businessmen and investors can work together to resolve disputes between Egypt and Turkey, the chairman of the Turkish-Egyptian Business Council of Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) said on Friday.

"We want to reinforce a win-win strategy over all African countries," Mesut Toprak told Anadolu Agency.

Toprak noted Egyptian businessmen’s desire to develop bilateral relations by settling political disputes.

He said the Africa Business Councils of DEIK had arranged high-level trips and signed bilateral agreements in order to improve economic cooperation with the continent.

On Egypt, Toprak said a Turkey-Egypt Business Council joint meeting would be held on March 12.

“We aim to carry out efficient activities by forming executive committee for the Egyptian side of the council. In the following joint meetings, current disputes will be discussed and new solutions will be developed to boost trade between the two countries," he said.

Toprak said Egypt's producer register system posed obstacles for Turkish companies.

"The system, which was launched by Egypt to protect its domestic market, poses an obstacle for Turkey's exports by unnecessarily limiting trade," he said.

Toprak warned that problems will persist despite measures to facilitate trade: "This system will continue as long as Egypt's foreign currency problems continue," he said.

He said their aim was to enhance sectoral cooperation with Egypt, especially in the agriculture and energy fields.

"An Africa Agriculture Summit will be held in Antalya on April 27-28 in order to create a platform for the private and public sectors and the representatives of Egypt's business environment will join," he added.

- Problems in visa applications

The council head pointed out that visa approval of about three weeks with only a single entry document, created problems for Turkish business people.

"Moreover, the differences in applications among customs based in Egypt plus very busy paperwork could be listed as other problems that should be solved," Toprak said.

Recalling Turkish exports to Egypt in 2015, Toprak said: "Turkey's exports decreased by five percent to $3.1 billion compared to 2014 due to the political instability in the region."

"In that period, Egypt fell to 14th among Turkey's export partners, with a 2.1 percent share of the country's total exports," he added.

Toprak also stated that the total trade volume between Turkey and Egypt stood at $4.1 billion last year, noting $2.7 billion Turkish exports and $1.4 billion Egyptian exports.

"Turkey's ministry of economy gave priority to Egypt, which is Turkey's number one export partner in Africa, for enhancing bilateral trade relations in the period of 2016-2017," he said.

Turkey's top export products to Egypt are steel and iron plus construction materials followed by textile, cement and agricultural goods like lentil red and nut.

* Reporting by Erdal Celikel with writing by Dilara Zengin and Muhammed Ali Gurtas