Turkey to support Egypt until economy regains regional strength

Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister has said that his government will support Egypt until the latter’s economy regains its position of regional strength and authority. Ali Babacan insisted that the Middle East’s strength stems from Egypt’s.

Mr Babacan was speaking during a meeting with Osama Saleh, Egypt’s Minister of Investment, on the fringe of the Arab-Turkish Economic Forum in Istanbul. He confirmed Turkey’s serious intention to help Egypt to overcome its current transitional phase difficulties.

According to officials from the Ministry of Investment, Babacan asked about the economic reform plan set in train by the Egyptian government to overcome the current situation. Mr Saleh presented details of the measures taken for economic reform, as well as recent developments with the International Monetary Fund.

Saleh also expressed Cairo’s gratitude to Babacan and the Turkish government for their political and economic support bilaterally and internationally. He praised the Turkish government’s encouragement for Turkish investors to look at Egypt as a vehicle for economic growth.

During his stay in Istanbul, Mr Saleh also met with Turkey’s Minister of Finance, Mehmet Simsek. The two ministers shared their vision on the potential for doubling financial and technical cooperation between their countries. This would help Egypt to utilise agreed economic reforms to achieve a balanced growth that will ensure social justice.

Mr Simsek expressed his belief that the Egyptian market is still one of the most important and largest international markets in terms of diversity, purchasing and consuming power, and experience. He stressed that Turkey is counting on internal stability in Egypt after the parliamentary elections in order for the economy to recover and the government to complete its reform plans.

In a related development, Minister Saleh held a meeting with stock market representatives in Istanbul, during which the expansion of trading and personnel links between the markets in Turkey and Egypt were discussed.