Eng. Essam El Naggar participates in Egyptian-Turkish discussions to enhance Economic and Trade Partnership, whereas trade relations between the two sides have witnessed a qualitative leap and the volume of trade exchange reached about $8 billion in 2024.
Engineer Hassan El Khatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, received Dr. Ömar Bolat, Minister of Trade of the Republic of Turkey, where a closing meeting of the mechanism for Bilateral Trade Consultations was held at the level of the Ministers of Trade of Egypt and Turkey. The meeting was attended on the Egyptian side by Major General Essam El Naggar, President of the GOEIC, Mr. Ahmed Amouy, Head of the Egyptian Customs Authority, Dr. Amani Al-Wesal, Head of the Agreements and Foreign Trade Sector, Minister Plenipotentiary for Trade Abdel Aziz Al-Sharif, Head of Trade Representation, and Ambassador Wael Hamed, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs, and on the Turkish side by Mr. Saleh Mutlu Şen, the Turkish Ambassador to Cairo, and the accompanying Turkish delegation.
The discussions addressed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, deepen economic partnerships between the two countries, and increase promising opportunities during the next phase.
The minister explained that economic relations between Egypt and Turkey have witnessed a qualitative leap in recent years, noting that the meetings of the High-Level Strategic Council, that was held in Ankara in 2024 under the presidency of Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, contributed to raising the level of bilateral cooperation, strengthening trust, and pushing towards broader partnerships in various fields.
El-Khatib pointed out that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries reached $8 billion in 2024, compared to $6.5 billion in 2023, stressing that the presidential directives aim to raise these rates to $15 billion during the next five years, which will enhance Egypt's Status and Turkey as two pivotal economic powers in the region.
Eng. Engineer Hassan El-Khatib explained that Egypt hosts about 200 Turkish companies with total investments of $3 billion, noting that these companies provide more than 100,000 direct job opportunities in various industrial sectors including spinning and weaving, manufacturing industries, household appliances and food industries, which reflects confidence in the Egyptian economy and its ability to attract investments.
El-Khatib explained that the Egyptian government has implemented a package of reforms to ensure an improved investment environment and facilitate trade movement, including a plan to reduce customs clearance time to just two days by the end of 2025. These measures are expected to save the Egyptian economy approximately $284 million annually as a result of reducing transportation and logistics costs.
The minister also referred that the Cabinet directed all relevant bodies to work to reduce customs release time by working throughout the week, including official holidays, for ensuring that the movement of goods is not interrupted and facilitating trade flows through ports and border crossing points, thus supporting Egypt’s status as a regional logistics hub.
El-Khatib also reviewed a package of (29) government measures aimed at developing import clearance and inspection procedures, with the goal of facilitating documentary cycles, accelerating shipping, unloading and customs release operations, and reducing the accumulation of shipments at ports, explaining that this package comes within an integrated vision to raise the efficiency of the trade system and increase the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy.
The minister pointed out that the trade consultation mechanism at the level of the two trade ministers represents an elevation of the level of trade consultations between the two countries and represents an institutional platform that allows continuous monitoring of the economic cooperation between the two countries, indicating that it provides a framework for dealing with trade barriers, coordinating investment plans in priority sectors, and developing practical solutions to challenges in a way that enhances economic integration between Egypt and Turkey.
El-Khatib explained that strengthening cooperation in the fields of logistics and infrastructure is a fundamental pillar for developing trade relations between the two countries, stressing that Egypt’s geographical location gives it a strategic advantage linking Europe, Africa and the Middle East, in such way that opens up broad horizons for developing regional supply chains.
The minister noted that the discussions held during this year contribute to shaping the features of the next phase of economic cooperation, stressing that the outcomes of these meetings will be followed up systematically to ensure that what has been achieved is translated into clear executive steps.
The minister confirmed Egypt’s desire to strengthen the economic partnership with Turkey and enhance trade and investment cooperation, explaining that the next phase will witness close follow-up on the decisions of the meeting and continuous coordination between the two sides in a way that benefits the economies of both countries and enhances partnership opportunities in regional and international markets.
For his part, Turkish Minister of Trade Dr. Ömar Bolat expressed his appreciation for the significant development in economic relations between the two countries and Turkey’s desire to work on removing any challenges that hinder trade exchange, stressing his country’s commitment to strengthening cooperation in light of the positive results achieved in recent years.
Bolat emphasized his appreciation for the speedy development in trade relations between Egypt and Turkey in recent times, stressing that the current stage witnesses the best levels of political and economic cooperation between the two countries.
He said that the global challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and disruptions of supply chains require strengthening regional and international partnerships, noting that the two countries possess significant capabilities that allow them to confront these changes and turn them into opportunities for shared growth.
Bolat noted that Turkish institutions are ready to increase coordination with the relevant Egyptian authorities to ensure the smooth flow of goods and services, and to create suitable conditions for the private sector to expand investment partnerships and joint projects within Egypt and in third-country markets.
At the conclusion of the discussions, a document was signed outlining the points agreed upon to facilitate trade movement and investment between the two countries, in light of joint directives to deepen strategic partnerships.
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