Erdogan to visit Sudan to conclude investment talks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Khartoum to sign business, trade and investment co-operation agreements as early as next week, Sudan’s presidential assistant has revealed.

In a statement in front of a delegation of Turkish and Sudanese business people, Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid revealed that arrangements for the visit were being coordinated with the Minister of Investment, Mubarak Al Fadhil, and the State Minister at the Ministry of Information, Yassir Yousuf.

Investment meetings between the two countries have been taking place for some months and include plans for Turkey to establish a fully-fledged railway in Sudan as well as large-scale projects in the fields of agriculture and livestock.

Read: Sudan’s Al-Mahdi calls for a government able to work on ICC ‘genocide’ ruling

Hamid pointed to a large market of half a billion consumers that could be accessed by Sudan’s use of Turkey’s financing and technology. The cooperation hopes to result in billion-dollar products, especially in agriculture that would reach the African and Gulf markets by the end of 2018.

Sudan and Turkey are close economic partners. In 2015, the total amount of the infrastructure projects undertaken by Turkey in Sudan reached $300 million, whilst the direct private investment from Turkish companies amounted to an additional $300 million, according to Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.