Egypt, Turkey want to boost trade volumes by 50% over 5 years

Samir talks trade in Turkey: Trade Minister Ahmed Samir and his Turkish counterpart Ömer Bolat agreed yesterday to increase bilateral trade by 50% to USD 15 bn over the next five years during talks in Ankara, the countries said in separate statements (here and here) on Tuesday. Samir’s visit to Turkey started Tuesday and will wrap up today.

This is the first visit to Turkey by an Egyptian trade minister in 10 years: The meetings come a few weeks after presidents Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to reestablish diplomatic ties and appoint ambassadors after 10 years of hostilities.

Business ties have been improving: The two sides reconstituted the Egyptian-T urkish BusinessCouncil for the first time in 10 years in May and Turkish companies have pledged to invest USD 500 mn in Egypt. In the past three months, Turkish healthcare firm Hayat and leather maker Iskefe Holding have announced plans to invest a combined USD 250 mn to expand manufacturing operations in Egypt.

MEANWHILE- Shoukry x Blinken: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry yesterday to discuss “economic, developmental, military and security” issues, the Egyptian foreign ministry said yesterday. The two also talked about efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Sudan, as well recent developments in Libya and Palestine, according to the statement.