Turkish-Egyptian trade volume up 19 percent

CAIRO - Anatolia News Agency

Turkey needs additional ro-ro ships in trade with Egypt, a business representative says. Hürriyet photo

Turkish-Egyptian trade volume is expected to increase by 19 percent in 2012, reaching a figure of $5 billion, chairman of the Turkish-Egyptian Businessmen’s Association (TUMİAD), Zeki Ekinci has said.

“Turkish commercial investments in Egypt reached $1.5 billion in 2012. We expect the trade volume to be $5 billion in five years,” Ekinci said, speaking to Anatolia news agency.

However, Turkish investors in Egypt experience bureaucratic difficulties and often have problems involving security, Ekinci said.

Turkish companies involved in threads, textile goods, ready made garments, and spare parts employ 50,000 Egyptians, Ekinci said.

While Turkey exports iron, steel, ready made garments, spare parts and chemical products to Egypt, Egypt exports chemical goods, manure, threads, textile goods, construction materials and ready made garments to Turkey, Ekinci said.

Additional ro-ro lines

Meanwhile, Turkish exporters have demanded additional ro-ro lines to Egypt from other provinces other than the southern province of Mersin, Zuhal Mansfield, the president of the Turkey-Egypt Business Council was quoted as saying by daily Hürriyet.

Mansfield developed a project to establish a ro-ro line between Mersin and Egypt’s Port Said in April.

Exporters are increasingly demanding ro-ro lines to Middle Eastern markets due to the effective impossibility of overland travel through Syria.

“We will continue with our activities to start ro-ro services to [Egypt’s] Alexandria from Istanbul and İzmir in accordance with exporters’ demand from the Marmara, Thrace and Aegean regions,” she said.