Turkish businessmen are planning to pump new investments in Egypt worth $5 billion in the coming period, the president of the Turkish-Egyptian Businessmen Association (TÜMİAD) Atillia Ataseven said on Monday.
Speaking at a business forum held in Cairo yesterday, Ataseven added that the planned investments are subject to the availability of “appropriate environment”, referring to the well-established business and investment laws, and the facilitation for money transfer and banking-related activities. He noted that the investors would include various nationalities.
A Turkish business delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday to attend a one-day forum organised by the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC), according to the Istanbul-based Anadolu Agency.
The delegation called for boosting economic ties between Turkey and Egypt, whose relations have been badly strained since a 2013 coup that unseated Egypt’s first freely elected president.
During the forum, the president of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Rifat Hisarciklioglu, voiced his hope for improved relations between Ankara and Cairo.
“The visiting delegation includes Turkish businessmen willing to invest in Egypt”, he said, adding that the Turkish businessmen considered Egypt a viable trade partner.
“We want to increase [Turkish] investment and exports to Egypt and the world”, Hisarciklioglu reiterated.
The number of Turkish firms operating in Egypt has been increasing over the past 15 years, while overall Turkish investment in the country has grown to a current $5 billion. “This has helped create some 60,000 job opportunities for Egyptians,” he said.
In 2016, the Egyptian government approved a new investment bill, aiming at attracting the largest amount of investments in Egypt.
Egypt’s total foreign direct investment has amounted to $6.84 billion during the financial year 2015-16, compared to $6.38 billion in 2014, according to Anadolu Agency.
Egyptian-Turkish relations deteriorated sharply after the Egyptian army ousted elected President Mohamed Morsi, a member of Egypt’s now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group, in 2013. Turkey has been critical of Morsi’s ouster, describing his overthrow as a military coup.
Last August, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey looked forward to repairing its relations with Egypt.