Mohammed, Gul discuss trade relations

DUBAI: Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and visiting Turkish President Abdullah Gul held talks on Tuesday at Zabeel Palace over ways of expanding horizons of the strong trade and investment relations to cover all sectors.

Sheikh Mohammed hoped Gul’s visit to the UAE would produce positive results that serve interest of the two friendly countries and peoples.

Highlighting the current volume of trade and investment especially between private sectors in the two countries, Sheikh Mohammed lauded the role the Turkish companies operating in the UAE are play in the building and construction sectors. The Vice President also welcomed Turkish businessmen who have excellent relations with their UAE counterparts.

For his part, the Turkish President, Abdullah Gul, expressed his delight at visiting the UAE and having talks with President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohammed.

Private sector

He asserted the vital role of the private sector in building strategic partnership between the two countries. The meeting was attended by Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Aviation Authority and Chairman of Emirates Group, Mohammed Abdullah Al Gargawi, Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, and a number of senior officials as well as UAE Ambassador to Turkey Khaled Khalifa Al Mua’alla and Turkish Ambassador to UAE Vural Altay.

Earlier speaking at a UAE-Turkey Business Forum, organised by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Abdulla Gul called upon UAE and Turkey business leaders to enhance their economic co-operation.

At a gathering of 500 UAE and Turkish business leaders in the presence of Sultan Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, and Mehmet Simsek, Turkey’s Minister of Finance, the Turkish President stated that from his last visit as Foreign Minister of Turkey in 2005 till date, Dubai has witnessed incredible development.

He urged the emirate’s businessmen to enhance trade ties as he said that Dubai has one of the most sophisticated and advanced ports and airports, and provides world-class logistics and financial services.

He called upon Dubai businesses to invest in Turkey’s lucrative manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, transport and financial services sectors stating that Turkey’s economy is very dynamic achieving 9 per cent growth in 2011 and is expecting 4 per cent growth this year.

In his welcome address, Abdul Rahman Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman, Dubai Chamber, stated that this is an historic opportunity to develop business ties with the UAE, especially Dubai, which has built an excellent reputation in the world of business and investment and has developed into a global destination and a gateway to investment in the region.

Also present at the forum were Hamad Buamim, Director General, Dubai Chamber, and keynote speakers including Korhan Kurdo_lu, Chairman, Turkey-UAE Business Council Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), Faik Yavuz, Vice President, Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), and Abdulkerim Çay, Vice President, Turkey Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency (ISPAT).

The Chairman of Dubai Chamber further stressed that Dubai is an ideal point for many global companies to expand into the GCC, Africa and Southeast Asia, and the emirate offers huge prospects for Turkish investors.

Al Ghurair informed that Dubai has many thriving industries that are capable of attracting overseas investment, namely trade, tourism, logistics and financial services. These sectors are regarded as the pillars of the economy and each recorded significant growth last year and this is expected to continue, he said.

Dubai’s trade with Turkey is increasing and encompasses semi-precious stones, electric equipment and machinery in addition to cosmetics while there are many potential areas in Turkey, including trade, construction, real estate, transport and logistics that Dubai-based companies can invest in, added Al Ghurair.

The Chairman of Dubai Chamber said that this forum follows the very successful Country Focus Briefing on Turkey organised by Dubai Chamber last year as part of its efforts to explore new markets for Dubai’s business community. He called upon Dubai traders to benefit from the networking and matchmaking meetings hosting top Turkish business leaders as Turkey today is one of the fastest growing economies, he added.

He also said the forum provided a fertile ground for delegates from both the sides to consolidate their trade ties, strengthen the channels of communication and explore potential investment opportunities which will further help boost bilateral ties for Dubai and Turkish businesses in the long run.

Faik Yavuz, Vice President, Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), also urged the business community to unite their efforts in construction, tourism, financial and manufacturing sectors and called upon the UAE to remove the visa restriction and provide visa extensions to Turkish businesses in order to facilitate Turkish investments in the UAE.

He emphasised on the importance of trade of his country as he said that Turkey exports to 200 countries and half of this goes to developed countries and expressed his desire to raise bilateral trade ties between Turkey and the UAE.

Yavuz further stated that the target is to increase trade volume between UAE and Turkey to exceed $10 billion by 2015 and Turkey can play a strategic role in connecting UAE with the European and African markets as his country has investments in over 30 African countries and has a strong presence in the construction sector in Central Asia.

The attendees discussed establishing bilateral partnership in Africa and Central Asia and called to accelerate efforts for the process of free trade agreement with Turkey.

Posted on Tuesday, January 31-2012

News provided by: Gulf Today