Turkish business delegation in Sri Lanka to rev up bilateral relations

By Hiruni Dabarera

In a bid to keep up with the booming commerce industry and pursue enhancement of business relations, a business delegation led by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK) met with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce yesterday, and exchanged Memorandums of Understanding.

The business delegation also held Business to Business (B2B) meetings with the Sri Lankan private sector. The delegates represented Beta Food Industry Inc., Askale Cement Factory Inc., Olcan Real Estate/Tourism Inc., Elpa Group Investment and Textile Industry Inc., Altek Industrial Construction Market Industry Inc. and Middle East Aluminium and PVC Plastic Ltd.

The Business Forum, organised by the Colombo Chamber of Commerce in association with the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK) and the Embassy of Turkey in Sri Lanka, brought out the close economic relations between the two countries and their desire to build upon this further.

“Out of the 209 export destinations of Sri Lanka, Turkey is the 14th largest export destination. In 2015, the export industry between the two countries amounted to $ 180 million while imports amounted to $ 15 million. The main exports from Sri Lanka to Turkey include tea and spices amounting to 77% of the total exports followed by man-made staple fibre, rubber products, apparel and chemicals. Main imports from Turkey include machinery and mechanical appliances, plastics, chickpeas and electrical machinery and equipment,” highlighted Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Dhara Wijayathilake.

She further elaborated how investing in Sri Lanka will be beneficial to Turkey owing to preferential tariffs that are granted for agreed products in Sri Lanka under several bilateral and multilateral agreements. They are namely the India-Sri Lanka bilateral agreement, Pakistan-Sri Lanka free trade agreement and the proposed free trade agreement with China which will be signed next month. These have opened gateways to a South Asian market of over 1.3 billion people. 

Wijayathilake believes that this business forum with DEIK will be an opportunity for both countries to strengthen all aspects of trade ties including business connections, technology transfers and the establishment of joint ventures. 

DEIK which was established in 1986 and bestowed with the responsibility of managing the foreign economic relations of the Turkish private sector has 103 founding institutions and 130 business councils as of January 2016. They have organized over 1028 events in 33 countries with 16,197 participants. 

Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator Volkan Yuzer told the Daily FT how DEIK’s vision implies that Turkey is a country which can shape economic and political developments regionally or globally in strong cooperation with its public and private sectors and civil society, which has sustained macroeconomic stability. 

The Turkish Ambassador to Sri Lanka Tunca Ozcuhadar who also addressed the gathering brought to light the long-term trade and political relations that existed between the two countries. “Our relations with this beautiful island began in 1865 during the time of Ottoman Empire. Since its independence in 1948 we accredited the Turkish Embassy in New Delhi-India to Sri Lanka. When Sri Lanka was in desperate need of aid after been hit by Tsunami, Turkey was one of the first countries who provided many support-aid programs,” he asserted. 

Turkey is currently the 17th largest economy in the world and the sixth largest in Europe. The income from the tourism sector in 2015 was almost $ 21,500,000,000 (almost 25 million people visited Turkey last year). Their economy consists of various successful industries like international construction companies and machinery building companies. Hence, there are many opportunities for both countries to arrive at mutually beneficial trade relations. 

Both countries believe that this business forum and B2B meetings will help both economies progress and re-strengthen the amiable relationship between Sri Lanka and Turkey.

Pix by Shehan Gunasekara