A large delegation of businessmen from various fields accompanied Egyptian President, Mohammed Morsi, on Sunday, September 30, on his official visit to Turkey. The visit is part of on-going efforts aimed at strengthening economic and trade relations between Cairo and Ankara.
Egyptian presidential spokesman, Yasser Ali, said that Morsi travelled to Ankara with a delegation consisting of 72 Egyptian businessmen representing 15 different sectors. The delegation will hold bi-lateral meetings with their Turkish counterparts to explore joint ventures and how to increase the volume of trade between the two countries.
Mr Ali added that the Egyptian delegation includes leaders from the federations of chambers of commerce, industry, tourism and contracting, as well as a number of investors, bankers, businessmen, and CEOs of major companies, operating in the fields of industry, trade, services and infrastructure. During their meetings in Ankara, they will examine mechanisms to encourage the private sector in the two countries and boost Turkish investments in Egypt, especially in the garment industry and tourist sector.
On his part, the President of the Egyptian-Turkish Business Council, Adel El-Lami’e, pointed out that the aim of Morsi’s visit is to advance economic cooperation between the two countries and raise the volume of Turkish investments in the country from $1.5 billion to $5 billion dollars in the next phase.
Two weeks ago, Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, had announced during a visit to Cairo, that an agreement with the Egyptian government had been reached; which allowed Ankara to offer $2 billion US dollars as a deposit and investment in favour of the Central Bank of Egypt.