TİM Organizes Fourth Trade Delegation to Cairo

Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), the umbrella organization for over 100,000 exporters, continues to bring Turkish exporters together with buyers from around the world through sectoral and general trade delegations. Through the Cairo Physical Trade Delegation, organized by the Ministry of Commerce in coordination with Turkish Exporters Assembly, approximately 50 Turkish exporters from various sectors conducted over 1,000 roundtable and B2B business meetings with representatives from more than 400 Egyptian companies. TİM President Mustafa Gültepe, commenting on the Cairo Physical Trade Delegation, said the following: "Egypt is an important country for us. As our maritime neighbor, Egypt serves as the gateway to Africa for Turkey. We place importance on increased presence of Turkish exporters and investors in the Egyptian market. We see serious potential here. In Egypt, currently our 15th largest export market, we have identified products in which we hold strong competitive advantages across 12 different sectors. Representatives from all of these sectors participated in our delegation. Our delegation is progressing productively. I wish success to both our Turkish exporters and our Egyptian partners."   Having organized trade delegations to Dubai, Tel Aviv and Barcelona in 2022, Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) held its fourth trade delegation to Cairo, Egypt's capital. Organized by the Ministry of Commerce in coordination with Turkish Exporters Assembly between 22-24 August to create opportunities for new economic cooperation and sales between Turkey and Egypt and to increase bilateral trade volume, the Cairo Physical Trade Delegation enabled Turkish exporters from various sectors to conduct over 1,000 roundtable and B2B business meetings with representatives from more than 400 Egyptian companies. The delegation, headed by TİM Vice President Ahmet Güleç, included approximately 50 exporters from over 20 sectors such as furniture, textiles and raw materials, ready-made garments and apparel, construction materials, carpets, air conditioning, mining, dried fruits and products, aquatic products and animal products, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, chemicals, mechanical mining, electrical and electronics, automotive and spare parts, machinery and accessories, including TİM and association representatives as well as Turkish company representatives.

We identified products where we hold strong competitive advantages

Commenting on the Cairo Physical Trade Delegation program, TİM President Mustafa Gültepe stated that Egypt is an important country for them and that they are present-day representatives of civilizations sharing common cultural and humanitarian values. Noting that important economic relations exist between the two countries, TİM President Mustafa Gültepe continued his remarks as follows: "As our maritime neighbor, Egypt serves as the gateway to Africa for Turkey. We place importance on increased presence of Turkish exporters and investors in the Egyptian market. We see serious potential here. Political tensions have occurred between the two countries, and today an approach is underway. The process continues. As exporters, we organized a trade delegation to Egypt to make maximum use of this process. Turkey-Egypt bilateral trade volume, which contains serious potential, recorded significant progress in 2021. In 2021, our trade volume reached USD 6.7 billion with a 40 percent increase compared to the previous year. USD 4.5 billion of this volume came from Turkey's exports to Egypt. In 2021, exports to Egypt, our chemistry, automotive, steel, textiles and metals sectors stood out as our leading export sectors. In Egypt, currently our 15th largest export market, we have identified products in 12 different sectors where we hold strong competitive advantages. Representatives from all of these sectors participated in our delegation. Our delegation is progressing productively. I wish success to both our Turkish exporters and our Egyptian partners."

Over 1,000 roundtable and B2B business meetings

The Turkey-Egypt Physical Trade Delegation began with an informational presentation by the Trade Advisor of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Cairo. Following the presentation, TİM Vice President Ahmet Güleç, Expolink President Mohamed Kassem and Chargé d'Affaires ad interim Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Cairo delivered opening remarks. Following the opening remarks, Turkish exporters conducted over 1,000 roundtable and B2B business meetings with representatives from more than 400 Egyptian companies. Within the scope of the physical trade delegation program, a delegation consisting of association heads and Turkish business people conducted company and institution visits in Cairo for market research. TİM Vice President Ahmet Güleç, who headed the delegation, stated in his opening remarks that Egypt is a country of strategic importance and that as of 2021, Egypt ranks as Turkey's 15th largest export market and 26th largest supplier. TİM Vice President Ahmet Güleç informed that Turkey ranks as Egypt's 6th largest supplier and second largest export destination. Noting that Turkey, thanks to its diversified product supply, investments launched and geographical advantages, offers its partners more comprehensive and strong partnerships, TİM Vice President Ahmet Güleç made the following comments: "Indeed, in our exports to Egypt in 2021, we recorded increases exceeding 100 percent in different sectors such as animal products, fresh fruits and vegetables, jewelry and mining. Our strengthened economic capacity and competencies, our shared cultural foundation, our growing population and quality workforce point to tremendous potential for our countries. The achievements recorded in the first quarter of 2022 demonstrate that this potential is being activated. In the first half of 2022, our exports to Egypt increased 24 percent while our imports from Egypt increased 20 percent. These developments also strengthen our hopes regarding the future of our bilateral relations." Noting that prior to the visit, TİM conducted product-based research on Turkey's exports to Egypt, TİM Vice President Ahmet Güleç stated, "Based on the results we reached, we found that among the top 100 products that Egypt imports most, Turkey holds the position of a serious exporter with competitive advantages in 43 of them. In the aforementioned product groups, Turkey's share of Egypt's imports over the past 10 years stands at only 6 percent. Among these 43 products, 7 are from the steel sector, 6 each from the chemicals, automotive and textiles sectors, and 5 from the electrical-electronics sector. In total, advantageous products exist across 12 different sectors. Our Cairo delegation includes representatives from all these sectors. We hope that this visit will lead to fruitful projects and strong partnerships."