ANKARA: The Turkish-Egyptian Business Council has met in Cairo for the first time since the military coup in Egypt in 2013, calling for a revival of bilateral economic and trade ties. A Turkish delegation, headed by Mesut Toprak of the Turkish-Egyptian Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK), visited the Egyptian capital on March 12, according to a follow-up DEİK release. After a meeting with Turkish businesspeople who have investments in Egypt at a breakfast, hosted by Turkey’s charge d’affaires in Egypt, Ali Rıza Güney, the delegation held the 15th Turkey-Egypt Business Council Joint Meeting with top representatives from the Egyptian Business Association (EBA).
Toprak underlined the continued importance of bilateral economic and trade ties between the two countries, according to the statement released on March 15. “Despite a slight decrease in our bilateral trade ties in recent years, Egypt is the top market for Turkey in the region. Our Economy Ministry has designated Egypt as a priority investment country for the 2016 and 2017 period, which shows that our ties will see a further boost,” he said. While Turkey’s exports to Egypt were worth $2.7 billion in 2016 with a 12.7 year-on-year decrease, its imports from Egypt saw a 19 percent increase in the mentioned period and hit $1.4 billion. Saying that more than 200 Turkish companies are operational in Egypt with more than $2 billion investments, Toprak added that Turkish construction companies finalized 26 projects worth $1 billion in the country.
