ISTANBUL - Turkish and African businessmen are currently holding bilateral talks within the framework of a summit titled "Turkey-Africa Foreign Trade Bridge" held in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
The summit, hosted by the Confederation of Businessmen & Industrialists of Turkey (TUSKON), brings together 3,500 investors and businessmen and aims to create a 3 billion USD trade volume, a statement from TUSKON said on Wednesday.
Nearly 30,000 bilateral meetings were held and a trade volume of 2 billion USD was reached at last year`s summit, the statement said.
This year 45 African countries attend the summit and the goal is to hold 40,000 bilateral talks, TUSKON`s statement added.
TUSKON chairman Rizanur Meral said that Turkey`s foreign trade deficit would rapidly decrease and alternative business opportunities would be created thanks to the bilateral talks to be held within the framework of the summit.
"We are encouraging the companies not to settle for the domestic market solely and to seek new opportunities. Our playground will be the whole world from now on," he said.
Meral also said that Ethiopia in particular was expecting Turkish businessmen to invest their country. He said the country was open to investments in several sectors such as textile, leather and construction materials.
(DO-AÖ)