Strengthening ties
DESPITE global political and economic turbulence, high-level consultations between Egyptian and Turkish officials have begun to push bilateral relations to new heights. Eman Youssef reports
Kursad Tuzmen
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Relations between Egypt and Turkey have long been mundane. The two neighbouring nations seemed to have settled for a dry, if steady, trade flow.
In recent weeks, however, a new agenda has begun to emerge. On a visit to Cairo to attend the 36th Cairo International Fair last week, Turkish Minister of Foreign Trade Kursad Tuzmen highlighted the various fields of cooperation for investment and trade between the two countries.
Tuzmen toured the fair with a group of business people from the Turkish Chamber of Commerce and representatives from the Turkish national assembly. The executives were in Egypt to meet their Egyptian counterparts as part of efforts to boost bilateral trade. The Turkish delegation also met Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and Foreign Trade Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali.
"When we look at our present bilateral trade figure, which is $400 million, we realise that we are ignoring each other in terms of trade," Tuzmen told Al-Ahram Weekly .
He said the figure was considerably low when compared to the two countries' total trade volume.
"We have to find ways to improve our bilateral trade relations," Tuzmen said. "Both countries have free trade agreements with the European Union, so we need to establish a free trade agreement between Egypt and Turkey."
Some 40 Turkish companies in the fields of agriculture, furniture, textiles, automotives, chemicals, electronics and construction and building materials participated in the fair, "in order to have a presence in the Egyptian market despite the war on Iraq", Tuzmen told the Weekly.
"Turkey's membership of the EU offers opportunities for dynamic entrepreneurs," Tuzmen said, adding that the restructuring of the economy and liberalisation have helped both the local and international business communities.
Turkish ambassador to Egypt, Horkmaz Haktanir, said the two countries are planning negotiations for a free trade area. Haktanir said Turkey and Egypt, two countries of the Middle East that are almost in the same developmental stage, could make use of each other's expertise in advancing their respective economies.
"The trade volume between the two countries does not reflect the potential that both countries have," Ferudun Baser, commercial counsellor at the Turkish Embassy in Cairo, told the Weekly. "Egypt has great influence in the African and Arab worlds and Turkey has expertise in European and Asian markets."
"Related government offices in the two countries must work cooperatively and come up with a better framework for cooperation," Baser said.
In 1998, bilateral trade between the two countries totalled $604 million. Today, it stands at $400 million.
Turkish exports to Egypt include cars, spare parts, lentils, plastic, wood and chemical products, while Egyptian exports to Turkey include rice, cotton, petroleum products and raw materials.
At the end of 1999, Egypt started implementing anti-dumping duties on steel rebars imported from Turkey, which is the principal reason why Turkey's exports to Egypt have dropped. Egyptian exports of petroleum products to Turkey have also declined in recent years. The bilateral push is encouraging, but the question remains of how the ongoing war in Iraq will affect these efforts.
