Global Arab Network | billion deals - Turkey and Libya boost investment and trade

Translate this article to your language:

GANPublications

e-Publications

Add Site to Favorites

Add Page to Favorites

Make Homepage

Share This Page

RSS Feed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |

$10 billion deals - Turkey and Libya boost investment and trade

Global Arab Network - - George Haddad

Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:11

During three -day visit to Libya, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Erdogan passed the Turkish President’s greeting to the Libyan leader and invited him to Turkey. The parties voiced hope that the amiable and brotherly relations between two countries will serve as example for many.

Erdogan voiced hope the free trade agreement between two countries will get into force in 2010 and said this will ensure new economic and trade relations.

Turkey and Libya signed a string of cooperation deals ranging from health to education and construction.

Most of the agreements aim to boost investment and trade as Libya, emerging from years of isolation due to sanctions, tries to upgrade infrastructure, improve public services and secure food supplies for its growing population.

Libyan officials have also said they want their country to be a commercial bridge to Africa. Wednesday's deals would see the two Mediterranean countries cooperate in health, education and construction across the continent.

Under six memorandum of understanding signed in Tripoli on Wednesday, Libya and Turkey will team up in transport, banking and farming and their state investment agencies will work together on joint projects.

Two other deals were signed to scrap travel visa requirements and to encourage and secure investment, officials said.

"Libyan-Turkish relations have entered a new period of economic and commercial cooperation," said Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi during the signing ceremony.

He said the two countries aimed to double trade in coming years and contracts signed with Turkish companies were worth around $10 billion.

On Tuesday, Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan unveiled plans for a jointly-owned agriculture investment bank with capital of $1 billion that will spur Libyan efforts to secure food supplies.

Turkish officials also said they wanted to source more of their country's oil supplies directly from OPEC member Libya.

Turkey was also looking for more direct shipments of Libyan oil, Maatoug Mohammed Maatoog, a Libyan government minister who is head of a Libyan-Turkish friendship committee, told Reuters.

"In the meeting the Turkish delegation told (top Libyan energy official Shokri) Ghanem that they need to buy as much Libyan oil as possible directly," Maatoug said.
Growing oil income has given it the resources to rebuild roads, railways, ports, industrial areas, schools and hospitals that fell into disrepair during its long isolation.

Turkish firms will be vying with European and other companies for many of the lucrative reconstruction deals.

Turkish and Libyan officials announced on Tuesday they had scrapped visa requirements for travel between the two countries.

Air flights between Libya and Turkey would be increased and a ferry route from Izmir in Turkey to Tripoli that was cancelled during the sanctions would reopen, said Erdogan.

Turkish PM attended the Turkish-Libyan business forum during which he referred to the details of his meeting with Gaddafi. Erdogan said he is intent to have as many as 27 embassies in Africa by the next yearend, CnnTurk reported.

Addressing an economic forum, Erdogan said he hoped yearly bilateral trade with Libya would grow to $10 billion within five years from an estimated $9.8 billion this year and $9.2 billion in 2008. (Panorama, Reuters) Photo: worldbulletin

Global Arab Network

< Prev		Next >

Add comment

The opinions of the authors in articles published are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Global Arab Network
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published comments are the opinions of private individuals and do not reflect the views of Global Arab Network