Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out the closeness of Egypt and Turkey in his opening speech and said, “We want to do more business with Egypt. We view Egypt as our natural neighbor. We arrived at Cairo Airport after an hour and a half of flight from Ankara; that is how close we are.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that Egypt and Turkey have deeply rooted ties from the past and said, “More than neighbors, we share a culture. Presidents of Gaziantep Chamber and Mersin Chamber of Deputies are here. Both cities boast large Arab populations. Egypt and Turkey have always been intertwined throughout history. You find many famous Egyptian scholars lie side by side with Turkish scholars today in the cemeteries of İstanbul. More recently, a generation of Turks grew up with the admiration of Ümmü Gülsüm, the star of the East. It inspired many artists in that. What I’m saying is that we are the same.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that siblings should visit each other more often, pointing out that the brotherly ties between countries should also strengthen economic relations.

- “We consider Egypt our natural partner”

The TOBB President said, “Do not think Turkish business people are like the businessmen of other countries. We do not come only to sell goods to Egypt. We also come to make partnerships with Egyptian businessmen, to invest here, to export from Egypt to the world. We consider Egypt our neighbor and natural partner.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “But in order to do this, we must not forget the three-step rule of the economy: first visit, then trade, then invest. This is not written in economy books. This is written in the book of business. When economic relations grow stronger, so do partnerships and investments.”

In Hisarcıklıoğlu's speech, since the beginning of the year 2000, the number of Egyptians visiting Turkey has increased by 5 times to 110,000; the number of Turkish visitors who visited Egypt has increased by 10 times and exceeded 60,000. Bilateral trade also increased to 5 billion USD, Turkey becoming Egypt's fourth largest trading partner.

The TOBB President, pointing out that Egypt has become a industrial investment base for Turkey, added “Turkish firms are providing employment for 60,000 Egyptian brothers and are contributing to Egypt's exports. This is the true fraternity I spoke of. I wholeheartedly thank all the representatives of the Turkish business community.”

- “Egypt has begun implementing protectionist policies”

Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that some of the figures have started to decline due to the protectionist policies of Egypt, “But my dear friends, we have unfortunately lost this momentum in recent years and we have started to decline in many figures; one of the most important reasons for this is protectionism. Protectionist policies do not enrich the countries, but impoverish them. We see this in Turkey; we have experienced this. When the protectionist policies were implemented, the Turkish economy was almost crawling along and we lagged behind the world. In the 1980s, when protectionist policies were repealed and Turkey switched to a free market economy we took to the skies flight.”

- “There are very important tasks for the business world” 

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu also talked about the political problems between Turkey and Egypt at the end of his speech. Stressing that political disputes and economic relations should be separated, Hisarcıklıoğlu concluded his address:

“Political relations between countries may encounter problems from time to time, and examples of this have been experienced in Egypt many times in the past, but economic relations need to be considered separately. Because when economic relations are damaged, repairs take a great deal of time and there are no winners throughout that process. We have to carry our economic relations forward all the time because our relations do not just concern us; there are conflicts and problems in our geography. He used his There are very important tasks for the business world in this regard.”

- “Turkey for Egypt is the gateway to eastern Europe”

“Egypt is the gateway to Africa for Turkey as Turkey is the gateway for Egypt to Eastern Europe,” said Ahmed el-Vekil, President of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce.

He pointed out that some of the projects started with Turkey have faced obstacles after the January 25^th Revolution in Egypt, “The Turkish delegation of who visited Egypt is aiming to invest in important areas, and the work has been resumed in order to revitalize the projects.”

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they were negotiating with the aim of accelerating economic relations.

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “As Egyptian and Turkish businessmen we have come together with the aim of accelerating the economic relations between our two countries. We will share the difficulties we face with Egyptian Trade and Industry Minister Tarık Gabil and Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Administration Reform Minister Ashraf al-Arabi.”

Turkey's Cairo High Commissioner, Ambassador Ali Rıza Güney stated that the Turkish investors see a bright future for Egypt. Güney expressed that Turkish businessmen came to Egypt to see the investment environment in Egypt, to establish contacts and to evaluate potential investments.

- Great interest in bilateral business negotiations

Attending the Turkish-Egyptian Business Forum with Hisarcıklıoğlu were a total of 35 Turkish businessmen from Turkey, who are still investors in Egypt. The number of Egyptian businessmen participating in the Forum is more than 80.

Among the businessmen who went to Egypt along with TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu were, TOBB Vice President Ali Kopuz, Gaziantep Chamber of Industry Adil Konukoğlu, Mersin Chamber of Commerce and Industry Şerafettin Aşut, Chairman of Customs and Tourism Enterprises Co. Inc. Arif Parmaksız, Bolvadin Chamber of Commerce and Industry Murat Tabak, President of Steel Exporters Union Namık Ekinci , Nihat Özdemir, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Limak Holding, and Can Atalay, CEO of Arkas Holding.

There was great interest in bilateral business talks after the business forum.

The Turkish-Egyptian Business Forum was last held in Cairo in November 2012.