Egypt-Turkey Business Council calls to keep politics separate from economic relations

A senior member of the Egypt-Turkey Business Council has called to keep political disagreements separate from economic relations following the Egyptian foreign ministry’s decision on Saturday to expel the Turkish ambassador from Cairo and Ankara’s subsequent designation of the Egyptian ambassador as a “persona non grata”.

Adel Lamei, the head of the council’s Egyptian department, told the Middle East News Agency that Turkish investments in Egypt amount to around $1.5 billion, stressing that at least 300 Turkish companies have branches in Egypt employing 52,000 Egyptian workers.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Lamei said that the economic relations between Egypt and Turkey have historical roots, and were strengthened in 2005 when the two countries signed their economic partnership agreement.

Lamei pointed out that after 30 June the Egypt-Turkey Business Council convened a meeting between Turkish and Egyptian investors during which they agreed to separate politics from economic relations.