The Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Chambers, Dr. Khaled Hanafi, stressed during the opening of the 13th Arab-Turkish Economic Forum entitled: "History, Growth, and the Future", in the presence of Turkey’s Minister of Finance and Treasury Noureddin Nepati, President of the Federation of Turkish Chambers and Exchanges Rifat Hisarcık Oglu, President of Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group Raouf Abu Zaki, and a crowd of businessmen and investors from Turkey and Arab countries, that “The future is now wide open for a new wave of collaboration and moving forward by investing in supply chain and logistics. It is also important that the broader scope includes more sectors such as manufacturing, digital technology, food security, energy, pharmaceuticals, tourism, and many more.”
Hanafi stressed that "the opportunities before us are enormous, as the Arab and Turkish markets are among the best attractive markets for foreign investors and businessmen to work in. Because of the diversity, the investor can work in the commercial, industrial, digital, agricultural, and even real estate investment fields. There are also great incentives and facilities provided by the government of Turkey and other Arab countries governments for investors from both sides.” He said, "Arab investments in Turkey are distributed in many major economic fields, most notably the real estate market and the industry sector, followed by the financial sector, wholesale and retail trade, as well as investments in the media and technology market."
He pointed out that "Turkey and the Arab countries are suffering from the difficult effects of the geopolitical and global economic crises, in addition to the repercussions of climate change and many other challenges." Considering that "despite all the difficulties, Arab-Turkish economic relations are still flourishing, as the volume of trade exchange exceeded 55 billion dollars, while Arab investments in Turkey represent more than 16% of foreign investment flows to Turkey. However, the trade and investment capacity of our countries is much more, and should not be less than 200 billion annually, when considering the geographical proximity, the ease of movement of goods, the size of the markets and the diversity of industries, and the huge potential.”
He believed that “the unprecedented global challenges are not insurmountable. We can overcome enormous challenges with cooperation and solidarity. Together, we have taken important steps to develop and diversify our relations, both bilaterally and multilaterally, especially during the past decade. High-level strategic cooperation councils and joint economic committees constitute valuable mechanisms to achieve this goal.”
Hanafi affirmed, "The Union of Arab Chambers is committed to continuing to work to develop and deepen relations with Turkey," calling for "continuing our efforts towards prosperity for the Arab world and Turkey alike."
Source (Union of Arab Chambers)
