Türkiye – Turkish Trade Minister Omar Bolat confirmed that the volume of trade between Türkiye and the African continent reached about 27 billion dollars in the first nine months of 2024.
This came in his speech, on Wednesday, at the Global Industrial Cooperation Forum, which brings together 1,500 businessmen from various African countries with Turkish small and medium-sized producing and exporting companies in Istanbul.
Polat pointed out that Türkiye adopted a strategy for developing trade and economic relations with African countries in 2003, and spoke about projects and cooperation with the African continent since then.
He said: “The volume of our trade with the African continent, which was $5.4 billion in 2003, will double 7 times in 2023 to reach $37 billion.”
He added: “During this period, our exports increased from $2.1 billion to $22 billion, and our imports increased from $3.3 billion to $15 billion.”
He added: “The volume of trade between Africa and Turkey approached $27 billion in the first nine months of this year. Of these, $15.8 billion are Türkiye’s exports, and $11.1 billion are Africa’s exports to us.”
The minister pointed out that Türkiye has been dealing with its relations with Africa within the framework of the “African Partnership Policy” since 2013.
He pointed out that there are currently business consultants in 31 African countries.
He explained that “developments and expectations indicate that Africa will be an important center of attraction in the medium and long term,” and that all of Turkey’s strategies in this continent fall within the framework of the “win-win” principle.
Turkey began its policy of openness to the African continent in 1998, and it gained momentum with the African Union declaring Turkey a strategic partner in 2008, in addition to holding the Turkish-African cooperation summit in the same year in Istanbul, leading Turkey to enter in 2013 as a major player in the “African partnership policy.”
The Turkish policy of openness to Africa, which is based on the principle of “equal partnership and mutual interest,” has helped achieve rapid progress in many areas, including the volume of trade, political dialogue mechanisms, educational activities, and economic investments.
Anatolia
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