DEİK, TURKEY-GUINEA BUSINESS FORUM TOOK PLACE IN ISTANBUL
Turkey-Guniea Business Forum took place in Istanbul on December 28th with the participation of President of Guinea Republic Alphe Condé and Minister of Public-Private Sector Partnerships of Guinea Republic Ibrahima Kassory Fofana, Minister of Education of Turkish Republic Ismet Yılmaz, DEİK President Ömer Cihad Vardan and Head of DEİK/Turkey-Guinea Business Council Burak Gören. Many investors from various backgrounds from fishery to technology have attended the meeting making a total of 350 Turk & Guinean businessmen. Investors were invited to discover opportunities in Guinea covering sectors on agriculture, energy, mining, infrastructure and telecommunication.
President of Guinea Alphe Condéannounced the initiation of investments in the fields of housing and tractor. Both countries' will is to incentivize Turkish business men since Guinea's access to EU, USA and other African countries is easy. In order to reach double digit growth rates, annual investment with 1.5 Billion USD worth is necessary.
Minister of Public-Private Sector Partnerships of Guinea Republic Ibrahima Kassory Fofanaclaimed that Guinea Republic is actively supporting Foreign Direct Investment. He reinforced that Guinea is hoping that investor relations will grow in line with win-win principles. Minister Fofana stated that they've set Turkey's economic model as an example in order to serve information and financing need. IMF's annual growth estimate for Guinea is %5.5. Despite some operational problems with the mining industry, he underlined that there is a great potential for agriculture and energy. In the next 10 years, Fofana stated that they would like to make Guinea as Africa's investment junction for foreign investments.
Minister of Education of Turkey Ismet Yılmaz stated that trade volume of 50-60 Million does not reflect the potential. Minister Yılmaz reminded that agreement was signed for partnership covering tourism, education, agriculture, mining and energy sectors. He announced that Turkish Airlines will launch direct flight to Guinea in a month and invited Turkish businessmen to invest in Guinea.
DEİK President Ömer Cihad Vardanreminded that initial target is to increase export volume to 250 Million USD. Vardan "With the establishment of Turkey-Guinea business council we will not only develop trade and investment relations but it will enable us to form relations with neighbor countries". DEİK President announced that "Sub-Saharan Africa Energy Investment Assessment Project" has been initiated within DEİK in order to contribute in Africa's renewable energy production thus improving continent's welfare and economies' competitiveness.
DEİK Turkey-Guinea Business Council President Burak Görendrew attention to the fact that DEİK has rapidly built council's Turkey base rapidly and Turkey is a great opportunity for both countries and total trade volume expectation is 250 Million USD.
TURKEY- GUINEA TRADE FACT SHEET (Ministry of Economy- 2015)
Total Trade Volume: 69 Million USD
Export from Guinea to Turkey: 65 Million USD
Main Export Items: Crude Oil, aluminum, gold, natural rubber
Import from Guinea to Turkey: 4 Million USD
Main Import Items: Petrol oils, bitumen minerals, rice
Trade Balance: 61 Million USD
