By Muhammed Ali Gurtas
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey's Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MUSIAD) opened a representative office in Tanzania, an East African country, the business body announced on Wednesday.
As part of the association's trade diplomacy vision — to have branches in 100 countries by the end of 2018 — the number of MUSIAD's representative offices in 81 countries reached 211 with the branch in Tanzania.
Ibrahim Uyar, the head of MUSIAD's foreign organization and development commission, said Tanzania has a great importance in trade and business relations between Turkey and Africa.
Calling Tanzania as one of the most reliable and stable country in Africa, Uyar said: “With its almost 60 million population and investment opportunities, the country is an attraction center for business people. ”
“The trade volume between the two countries posts an upward trend, ” he said. “Although the current trade volume is below the desired level, the efforts are promising. ”
In the January-September period this year, the trade volume between Turkey and Tanzania recorded an annual growth of 61 percent, reaching nearly $190 million, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.
Over the past five years, Turkey's exports to Tanzania amounted to $620.3 million, while the country's imports from Tanzania were $184.4 million.
– 'Africa Year'
Uyar said that a total of 1.3 billion people live in 54 African countries, which is around 17 percent of the world's population.
“By 2050, the continent's population is estimated to reach 4.4 billion — 37 percent of the world's population, ” he said.
MUSIAD declared 2018 as the “Africa Year” to show the association's priority.
“The representative office in Tanzania is our 13th branch across Africa, ” he said, adding:
“We are aiming to operate in 30 African countries by the end of this year. ”
Last year, the share of African countries in Turkey's total exports was 7.4 percent, as imports from Africa accounted for 3.1 percent of Turkey's total imports.
In 2013-2017 period, the country's exports to Africa totaled $63.4 billion, while Turkey imported $29.6 billion from the continent.
