INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Turkish Ambassador AYŞEGÜL KANDAŞ says Turkey has always endeavoured to enhance its cooperation with African countries as equal partners on a win-win basis. Turkey is now one of the most represented countries on the African continent from a diplomatic point of view

It is an honour to address the readers of Business Update magazine, published by the Progressive Business Forum (PBF), and the business community, and I appreciate this opportunity to share my views on bilateral economic relations between Turkey and South Africa. Still being in the beginning of my tenure in South Africa as an Ambassador, I am determined to provide every assistance to the South African business community with regards to creating business with Turkey.

Our relations with Africa took a positive turn with the launch of “The Strategy for the Development of Commercial and Economic Relations with African Countries” in 2003.

Since then, we have been witnessing the growing importance of Africa in our economic relations. The number of embassies and trade offi ces on the continent has increased over the years. With the opening of an embassy in Togo this year, the number of Turkish embassies on the African continent has increased to 43. Turkey has become one of the most represented countries on the African continent from a diplomatic point of view. The year 2005, when Turkey became an observer member to the African Union, was a milestone in terms of TurkeyAfrica relations. After that it moved to a new dimension with the African Union’s declaration of Turkey as a Strategic Partner in 2008. We attach great importance to the commercial, educational, tourism, development and cultural dimensions of our relations with the continent and South Africa, as well as our political relations. We have never considered the countries of the continent as sheer markets for Turkish products and have always endeavoured to enhance our cooperation as equal partners on a win-win basis. I would like to quote President Erdoğan here: “We have built bridges from heart to heart between our nation and the peoples of Africa”.

We want to improve our trade relations with South Africa with the help of our Commercial Offi ce, improve our development cooperation with the help of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), improve our educational relations with the help of our Maarif Foundation, and improve our cultural relations through the Yunus Emre Institute. They all have coordinators in Pretoria or Johannesburg. I believe the existence of these institutions is a testament to Turkey’s comprehensive approach to this country.

In addition, Turkish Airlines (THY), our fl ag carrier, connects the Republic of South Africa and the continent with the world, fl ying to a total of 128 countries. THY started its fi rst fl ights to Luanda last month, increasing the number of destinations in Africa to 61.

DEFY is Turkey’s largest investment in the country and continues to contribute to the country’s economy and employment (with around 2 500 employees) with new investment projects. Arçelik, which is the largest white goods manufacturer in sub-Saharan Africa with the brands DEFY, Grundig and BEKO, opened two BEKO stores in Johannesburg and Durban two months ago. I would like to point out that BEKO, the United Kingdom’s number one largest white goods brand in the white goods sector, will also make a difference in the market with the environmentally friendly store concept for its customers. BEKO plans to open its third store in Cape Town soon.

Another prominent company with a production facility in Pretoria is ASELSAN, leader in the Turkish defence industry, with engineering operations and valuable know-how. ASELSAN has plans to open a new offi ce and production centre in Dube Tradeport (SEZ) with a 100% black-owned South African company regarding communications technology for civilian-use. Undoubtedly, this project will create jobs for the people in the region.

As seen from the above, Turkish businesses continue to invest and create employment in South Africa. Nevertheless, total investment and trade fi gures between the two countries are still far below their potential. The trade volume with South Africa, Turkey’s largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, was only US$1.46-billion in 2020. The pandemic obviously had a negative impact on bilateral economic transactions. We could aim to increase bilateral trade volume fi rst to US$3-billion and then to US$5-billion in the near future. Our countries have this potential. While stating once again that we are always ready to cooperate with the Progressive Business Forum (PBF), I would like to emphasise that we, as the Turkish Embassy, are ready to promote business opportunities between PBF subscribers and Turkish companies, as well as supporting common projects in the educational, tourism and development spheres.

TURKISH AMBASSADOR PRETORIA