Second stop of the Africa Tour: Ghana
The President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, from 28 February to 3 Mart 2016 paid an official visit to Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Guinea. He was accompanied by a delegation of over 130 Turkish businesspeople who used the opportunity to learn about the investment climate in Africa and its business potential.
On his visit to Africa, the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was accompanied by the largest delegation on any state visit this year. The trip led them from Côte d'Ivoire, to Ghana, then to Nigeria and finally to Guinea.
The second Business Forum hosted by DEİK was held on Tuesday, 1 Mart 2016, in the capital of the Republic of Ghana, Accra.
In his address at the Ghana-Turkey Business Forum, the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, expressed his wish to cooperate closer with Ghana both on a bilateral level and in international organisations. However, the establishment of closer political, social and cultural ties required a strengthening of their economic partnership.
Since the beginning of the Africa Initiative of his country in 2005 the trade volume had increased from USD 27 million to USD 400 million today. His goal for 2020 was USD 1 billion. In this context, Erdoğan announced the signing of four new trade accords. He called up the business community to follow up on the agreements and achieve results.
In his speech at the Forum closure, the Turkish President emphasised that his country's opening to Africa was no one-way process; what he desired was stronger cooperation with Africa on a win-win basis. He appealed to Ghana to speedily sign the Preferred Trade Agreement with Turkey in order to advance the collaboration in areas as divers as energy, agriculture, transport and mining.
In a speech at the closure of the Forum, the President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahamaise, supported the Turkish President's goal of a USD 1 billion trade volume by 2020. He also expressed his conviction that the agreements signed on the occasion of the visit would ensure target achievement. He said Ghana was open to cooperation with Turkey on the establishment of free trade zones and industrial estates dedicated to light manufacturing. He thanked his counterpart Erdoğan for his visit.
DEİK President Ömer Cihad Vardan reminded the Forum participants that currently 2,600 Turkish investors were active in Ghana. However, in the light of Turkey's economic development this figure should be much higher. Vardan expressed the Turkish business community's readiness to invest in Ghana and the neighbouring countries. After all it was DEİK's purpose with its 130 Business Councils to advance Turkey's foreign trade.
At the Forum, DEİK President Ömer Cihad Vardan and the President of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Appiagtei Dankawoso, signed a Protocol of Understanding on the establishment of a DEİK/Turkey-Ghana Business Council.
