President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Friday reaffirmed the significance Türkiye attaches to its relations with Africa and its dedication to additional bolster financial cooperation with the continent.
Türkiye’s engagement with the African continent has been gaining tempo through the years. Since taking workplace practically twenty years in the past, first serving as prime minister, Erdoğan has been fostering ties with the continent, presenting Türkiye as a fairer participant than the continent’s former colonial powers.
Erdoğan on Friday recalled that Türkiye has been advancing its cooperation with the continent based mostly on “equal partnership and a win-win principle.”
“In 2005, we opened a new page in our relations with the continent by declaring the year of Africa in our country,” he instructed the Türkiye-Africa Business and Economic Forum in Istanbul.
“Africa has a special place in the foreign policy of our country as well as in the heart of the Turkish nation,” Erdoğan famous.
The diplomatic push has seen Erdoğan make over 50 visits to round 30 African international locations since he grew to become prime minister in 2003.
The authorities’s precedence to interact with Africa has helped facilitate the expansion of business and commerce relations. It got here with a robust dedication that centered on direct support, infrastructure and transportation tasks, in addition to mutually useful financial partnerships.
“We have increased the number of our embassies throughout Africa to 44. We take great pride in hosting ambassadors from 38 African countries in Ankara,” Erdoğan stated.
Citing strong progress in commerce with the continent, he stated Türkiye’s commerce quantity with Africa surged to almost $41 billion by the tip of 202 from as little as $5.4 billion in 2003.
The determine is projected to hit $50 billion by the tip of this 12 months.
Erdoğan stated the variety of Türkiye’s commerce consulates within the continent will quickly attain 31, and famous that that they had established business councils with a complete of 48 African international locations.
“The number of countries with which we have trade and economic cooperation agreements has reached 48. The number of countries with mutual promotion and protection agreements for investments has increased to 32,” he stated.
“From trade to investment, culture to education, we are delighted to observe that our relations with Africa are growing stronger in every field day by day.”
Erdoğan stated Turkish corporations’ investments throughout the continent exceeded $10 billion and cited the truth that the companies supplied jobs to greater than 100,000 Africans.
Turkish contractors must date undertaken tasks price greater than $85.5 billion, Erdoğan famous.
Win-win foundation
The two-day discussion board, which started on Thursday, brings collectively consultants, businesspeople, high officers, and representatives from establishments from Türkiye and African international locations.
The discussion board’s first version was held in 2016, the second in 2018 and the third in 2021, whereas there was a digital assembly in 2020 beneath the pandemic circumstances.
Addressing the occasion, Nail Olpak, the pinnacle of the Foreign Economic Relations Board, stated Turkish businesspeople purpose to take commerce and funding relations with Africa to new heights whereas adhering to the win-win precept.
“But, while we understand the win-win principle as ‘I win, you win,’ most developed countries understand it as ‘I win, I win again,'” Olpak stated.
“Just as they understand justice as the strong is right,” he confused.
Olpak confused the aim to extend the bilateral commerce to $50 billion within the quick time period, earlier than lifting it additional to $75 billion.
“To achieve our goals, our cooperation in overcoming visa problems, double tax prevention agreements, mutual recognition and protection of investments agreements, free trade agreements, development of banking facilities, technology and startups is important,” he famous.
One of the axes of accelerating Türkiye’s financial relations with Africa can be to extend the dialogue atmosphere the place Turkish and African girls will come collectively, he famous.
The transformative position of ladies leaders in Africa’s business world is rising, he stated, including: “In Africa, the continent with the highest number of women entrepreneurs in the world, 70% of trade between countries is conducted by women and 58% of these women are self-employed.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
