The Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) and the Union of African Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture & Professions (UACCIAP) will work together to establish the Turkish-African Chamber (TAC).
The decision was announced as part of the İstanbul Declaration, read yesterday during a breakfast that was part of the ongoing Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit, organized jointly by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) and the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON). TOBB Chairman Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu read the declaration out loud at the meeting, in which Turkey's President Abdullah Gül also participated.

Fifty member-states of the 53-nation African Union are being represented at the summit, scheduled to end today. Six African countries are represented by heads of state while five are represented by vice presidents, six by heads of government, one by a deputy head of government and the rest by either the country's foreign minister or another senior-level official. Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho are the three countries that are not represented at the summit, due to a meeting in South Africa.

Hundreds of businessmen are also attending the summit, seeking to establish commercial relations with their Turkish counterparts. The declaration stated that a great deal of "very productive" talks took place during the conference with a mutual commitment to good will and common targets of furthering economic and political relations to better levels.

Turkey's trade volume with the entire African continent was $5 billion in 2003, but thanks to the government's policies encouraging business with Africa, it had climbed to $12 billion as of the end of 2007 and is expected to grow to $30 billion by 2010. Turkey, which has signed liquefied gas agreements with Algeria, is also seeking to boost investment and trade with sub-Saharan Africa, following similar moves by emerging powerhouses China and India.

Aside from the government's attempts to boost commerce with Africa, TUSKON was the leading figure in the Turkish business world vying for the formation of a strong foothold there. TUSKON Chairman Rızanur Meral said yesterday at the breakfast that 134 of TUSKON's members are already making significant investments in Africa. TUSKON has hosted three Turkey-Africa Foreign Trade Bridge meetings, the last of which was in May 2008 and was attended by nearly 1,000 businessmen from 45 countries.

The declaration reads: "Our targets are to improve commercial relations, to boost investments, to contribute to the creation of a proper investment environment, to urge the transfer of technology and know-how and to support the development of logistics infrastructure between the African continent and Turkey."

It was emphasized in the declaration that these targets would be reachable only through support and continuous cooperation among political leaders.

After the declaration was read, Gül, Hisarcıklıoğlu and UACCIAP Chairman Mohamed El Masry affixed their signatures to the document.

Speaking at the breakfast, Hisarcıklıoğlu said nobody in Africa should be "afraid of engaging in business and investments." Business and investments bring wealth and prosperity to all trading partners, making every one better off in the end, he noted.

He went on to say: "We don't want to take your raw materials out and sell them back to you as manufactured goods. What we really intend to do is to partner with you in converting these materials into finished goods." He said Turkish businessmen are aiming to strike long-lasting, strong partnerships with their African counterparts.

Africa's current situation very much resembles Turkey's in the 1980s, indicating that the continent has huge potential to develop and integrate into the rapidly globalizing world.

Although the economy was planned to be the focal point of the talks, the conference represented a flurry of diplomacy as well. Both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Gül spent several hours with senior African leaders at Tuesday's meeting.

Gül met with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, Somali Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Jama, Zambian Minister of Local Government and Housing Sylvia T. Masebo, Guinea-Bissau Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria da Conceicao Nobre Cabral, Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ojo Maduekwe, Benin Foreign Minister Issifau Kogui N'Douro, Sierra Leone Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana, Congolese State Minister Pierre Moussa, Zimbabwe UN permanent representative Boniface Chidyousiku, Chadian Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat, Angolan Foreign Minister Jose Pedro de Morais, Gambian Foreign Minister Omar Touray and Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Abd Alsalam al-Triki. Erdoğan met with Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, Rwandan Prime Minister Bernard Makuza, Togolese Prime Minister Komlan Mally and Ugandan Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi.

DEİK Chairman Yırcalı also spoke at the meeting and said his board envisaged leading the development of economic relations by establishing business councils in 15 African countries in which the Republic of Turkey had decided to open embassies. Asserting that commercial relations have increased since Turkey launched its "Africa Strategy" in 2003 and declared 2005 the Year of Africa, Yırcalı said DEİK had originated initiatives in parallel with these policies. He said eight of 80 business councils under DEİK are currently working with African countries, adding this number will rise to nine following the projected establishment of a council in Nigeria.

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