(AFP Photo)
Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek ended a two-day visit to Egypt assuring government officials that Turkey will continue to support Egypt.
Simsek met with his Egyptian counterpart Al-Morsi Hegazy and Minister of Investment Ossama Saleh, discussing ways to increase economic cooperation between the two countries.
He called on all Turkish investors to increase their investments in Egypt to support the latter’s ailing economy.
Following a meeting with a number of potential Turkish investors in Egypt, Simsek said: “Egypt is an important country to the region and to Turkey, and we’ll continue to support it.”
“Egypt is the best environment for investment opportunities,” he added.
During his visit, Simsek attended the inauguration of a new Turkish cultural centre in Alexandria. President of the Egyptian Chamber of Commerce (ECC) Ahmed Al-Wakeel was also in attendance at the inauguration.
Al-Wakeel said that he will be collaborating with Egyptian officials to research ways to break barriers that burden Turkish investors, and to increase opportunities to raise investment levels between the two countries.
Turkey is one of the countries that supported Egypt following the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. The country deposited $2bn into the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) in 2012 to fund small and medium sized enterprises.
In 2010, the level of trade between the countries reached $4bn, whereas in 2012 the levels increased by 26% reaching $5bn by the end of the year.
Egypt and Turkey significantly altered their economic relationship when the two countries signed a Free Trade Agreement in November 2005.
The agreement resulted in a threefold increase in trade exchange between Turkey and Egypt from 2006 to 2012.
