The event, which was jointly organized by MARİFED and the Turkish Egyptian Businessmen Association (TÜMİAD), is being attended by a trade mission of 107 Egyptian businessmen and more than 600 Turkish investors. MARİFED President Ahmet Ciğer, speaking at a press conference yesterday, stated that they expect the forum to lead to the signing of at least $100 million in business deals. The event, which kicked off yesterday, is scheduled to continue through Saturday.
TÜMİAD head Zeki Ekinci, recalling that Turkish businessmen’s investments in Egypt have reached $1.5 billion, stressed that this figure is too low considering the lucrative opportunities Egypt offers.
Mongy Aly Badr, the Egyptian commercial counselor in İstanbul, agreed with Ekinci’s remarks and stated, “Egypt has a pro-business investment climate.” He stressed his country’s low taxes and low costs of production, explaining: “You only pay 5 cents per kilowatt (kw) of electricity in Egypt, while it costs around 11 cents in Turkey. Similarly the price of one cubic meter of natural gas is 6 cents in Egypt, compared to 35 cents in Turkey, and the cost of labor is only 40 cents an hour, while this figure is four euros on average in Turkey.”
Thanks to a qualified industrial zone protocol signed between Egypt, the US and Israel, Turkish businessmen operating in Egypt also have the chance to enjoy zero customs duty, he said, compared to the 35 percent customs duty requirement for imports from Turkey and the US.
An Egyptian construction firm to invest in Turkey
Currently there are more than 250 Turkish companies operating in Egypt, employing 50,000 workers, while the number of Egyptian companies with an office in Turkey is just 88. Badr, speaking to Today’s Zaman, said that they are working to increase this figure, while encouraging Egyptian businessmen to invest in Turkey. He said a large Egyptian construction company plans to make an investment worth $50 million in Turkey, for which talks have been continuing on a high level for the past three months. Declining to disclose its name, Badr predicted the company would start its operations in Turkey within the year. Badr also said that three Turkish companies have expressed interest in acquiring a hotel in Egypt, adding they are exerting great effort to cooperate with Turkey in the field of tourism.
