News Desk - The Cradle
Egypt's Trade and Industry Minister travelled to Ankara for the first time in 10 years
Egypt's Trade Ministry announced that, “On the first visit of the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry to Turkey in 10 years, the Minister of Trade and Industry and his Turkish counterpart agreed on a roadmap to strengthen bilateral economic relations.”
Following his meeting with Turkish Minister of Trade Omer Bolat, the Egyptian Minister disclosed that Cairo and Ankara seek to boost bilateral trade by 50 percent over the next five years.
The two ministers hope to expand trade between Ankara and Cairo to $15 billion by the end of the five-year period. Bilateral trade between Ankara and Cairo currently stands at $10 billion.
Both sides also agreed to build upon a free trade agreement signed by both parties in 2005 and to hold a second meeting of the High-Level Commercial Consultation Mechanism.
Tuesday's meeting is a part of the two countries' initiative to restore diplomatic ties following a decade of strained relations. In 2013, the Egyptian foreign ministry accused Ankara of having too much influence over public opinion and seeking to create instability in Egypt.
Earlier that year, Saudi Arabia and the UAE backed a coup against the former Egyptian Government of President Mohammad Morsi, which resulted in the formation of the current president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government. At the time, Turkiye and Qatar supported Morsi's democratically elected, Muslim Brotherhood-linked government, while Abu Dhabi and Riyadh sought to place Sisi in power.
However, the two countries have recently been working to rebuild their diplomatic relationship. At the end of May, it was announced that Cairo and Egypt had agreed to re-exchange ambassadors.
Last month, as part of normalization efforts, Cairo and Ankara officially exchanged diplomatic representatives.
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