Monday 01/December/2025 – 02:07 PM
The second meeting of the high-level trade consultation mechanism between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Republic of Turkey was held today in Cairo. The meeting of experts from the Egyptian side was chaired by the Trade Plenipotentiary Minister Dr. Abdel Aziz Al Sharif, First Undersecretary of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade and Head of Commercial Representation, while the Turkish side was chaired during the meetings by Hosnu Dilemre, Director General of the International Agreements Department at the Turkish Ministry of Trade.
A high-level Egyptian-Turkish meeting in Cairo aims to raise bilateral trade to $15 billion
Al-Sherif stated that these meetings are being held about 15 years after the last meeting of this mechanism, which was held in 2010, which indicates the interest that Egypt attaches to strengthening and supporting trade and investment relations with Turkey, and the culmination of the intensive efforts made by the Egyptian commercial representation and its commercial office in Istanbul during the last period, especially in light of the great development and increasing momentum witnessed in bilateral relations between the two countries. The timing of the meetings coincides with the visit of Omar Polat, the Turkish Minister of Trade, to visit Egypt during the days of December 2 and 3. 2025 to participate in the fourth meeting of the D-8 Trade Ministers, which is organized in Egypt by the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade.
Al-Sherif added that the Egyptian and Turkish sides welcomed during the meetings the volume of balanced and growing bilateral trade, which in 2024 amounted to about $9 billion, as the two parties expressed their emphasis on working to achieve the common goal of increasing bilateral trade to $15 billion, based on the directives of Presidents Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Hosnu Dilemre indicated that Egypt is the destination and the first interest as a gateway to the African continent, and he aspires to advance the strategic partnership between the two countries and reach the goals desired by the presidents of the two countries, which will be implemented on the ground.
Al-Sherif also indicated that the Turkish side expressed its appreciation for the support provided by the Egyptian authorities to establish a special mechanism to follow up and solve the problems of Turkish investments in Egypt to support the Turkish companies operating there, as Turkish investments are estimated at about 4 billion US dollars, which the two sides wish to increase to 7 billion dollars during the next few years.
Al-Sherif noted that the main goal of the meetings was to discuss the outstanding technical issues in thorny issues such as trade, investment, transportation, customs, and government proposals for Turkish investors, as well as the issue of bilateral cooperation between Egyptian and Turkish companies in other markets, especially in light of the superiority of Egyptian and Turkish contracting and construction companies in this field. Many representatives of several Egyptian and Turkish authorities participated in the meetings to work on finding practical solutions for them that contribute to increasing the flow of Egyptian exports to the Turkish market, as well as attracting more investments. Turkey in priority sectors for both sides, especially in light of the existence of a free trade agreement signed between the two countries since 2005, before the minutes of the final meeting were signed by Engineer Hassan Al-Khatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, and Omar Polat, Turkish Minister of Trade.
