Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s presence at the Egyptian–Turkish Economic Forum added a sense of importance and grandeur to the event last month in Downtown Cairo. And rightly so — Erdogan, along with his Egyptian counterpart Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, were on hand to witness a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Turkish Minister of Economy, Zafer Çaglayan and Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Mahmoud Issa. The three-year agreement is slated to boost trade, joint investment and bilateral cooperation by billions of dollars and can be renewed on a yearly basis after it expires.

The two countries, more than eight months after the January 25 Revolution and nearly four months after the Turkish prime minister’s second landslide reelection, are at critical stages in their development as powers in the region.

Politically, all eyes are focused on Ankara and what it will do — or may not be able to achieve — in light of its attempts to bring a peaceful end to the uprising in Syria. Similarly, the relationship between Ankara and Cairo is still in the development phase as the Arab Spring continues to unfold.


“The two parties agreed to provide all necessary facilities for businessmen in both countries in addition to solving the problems that may arise.”


The deal
The MOU is set to cement important economic and political ties with Turkey. “[T]here is an agreement between officials in both countries on the importance of consolidating and strengthening mutual cooperation through new mechanisms to deepen the cooperation between businessmen in both countries and to develop a joint work plan of the trade volume […],” said a Ministry of Trade and Industry statement.

The ministry estimates said trade volume could reach $5 billion (LE 29.83 billion) during the countries’ next phase of cooperation, undeniably a gift horse that will greatly aid Egypt. 

In 1H2011, bilateral trade between both Egypt and Turkey was $1.88 billion (LE 11.21 billion), with Egyptian exports to Turkey totaling $702 million (LE 4.19 billion), while imports equaled $1.18 billion (LE 7.04 billion). Although Turkey’s domestic foreign direct investment accounted for more than 90% of monies, Turkey’s FDI for Egypt tallied $1.5 billion (LE 8.95 billion) of investment in textiles, food industries and services, medical, chemical and mining industries as well as tourism. 

Additionally, ties are being made at the grassroots level, a powerful and positive sign for the two countries’ medium- and long-term plans.


Prior to the forum, which welcomed many guests, the crowd was forced to stand, an MOU was signed between the Turkish Young Businessmen Association and the Egyptian Junior Businessmen Association, establishing a new federation. One of the main ideas behind the proposed union is uniting Turkey, Egypt and other countries in North Africa and form an experimental trade bloc, borrowing from the once successful EU template.

With Erdogan, President Abdullah Gül and the Justice and Development Party’s (or AKP) iron grip on Turkey likely to remain firm for years to come, Egypt seems to have a valuable economic and political ally for the long term. As one of the largest and most influential countries in Eurasia, Turkey appears sympathetic to Egypt’s plight, and highly optimistic for its new future — something Çaglayan, the Turkish minister reiterated.

“The coming stage will witness a huge increase in the bilateral trade and joint investments, especially with the desire of a large number of Turkish businessmen to invest their money in the Egyptian market,” Çaglayan said in the statement. “The participation of a large number of Turkish businessmen [reflects] the importance of the Egyptian market for Turkey as a green corridor for Turkish exports to Africa.”

Certainly, the Egyptian government has made an important socioeconomic and geopolitical ally in Turkey. One can only hope that Egyptian–Turkish relations continue on the right track and boost regional confidence in Egypt’s return to prosperity. bt