Businessmen from 48 LDCs Meet in Turkey

Businessmen from the 48 LDCs and Turkey had the chance to have tete-a-tete business meetings as part of Tuesday’s program organized by TUSKON in İstanbul.

More than 3,200 businesspeople from the 48 least developed countries (LDCs) and Turkey have gathered around 545 business meeting desks on Tuesday at a trade fair organized by Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), on the sidelines of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the LDCs (LDC-IV) in İstanbul, to discuss opportunities for possible partnerships in what is described as a rehearsal for TUSKON’s upcoming Turkey-World Trade Bridge (WTB) summit to be held in İstanbul in June.

Representatives from different sectors in LDCs told Today’s Zaman that they were keen to hammer out long-term partnerships with Turkish businesses, whose high quality work they lauded. A diverse range of companies participated in the meetings. Also as part of the TUSKON trade fair on Tuesday, 150 companies displayed their products at 35 country stands

The second WTB, which hosted over 2,300 foreign businesspeople from 135 countries and 2,200 from Turkey last year, saw trade agreements worth $7 billion signed. This year’s third WTB marks the 17th trade bridge summit TUSKON has organized since it was founded in 2005.

Representatives from different sectors in LDCs told Today’s Zaman that they were keen to hammer out long-term partnerships with Turkish businesses, whose high quality work they lauded. A diversified range of companies participated at the meeting. A construction company from Afghanistan, textile, transporters and hoteliers from Bangladesh, a tourism company from Burundi, a furniture company from Chad, a paper and a pharmaceutical company from Ethiopia, a telecommunication firm from Mozambique, food companies from Senegal and Tanzania, banks from Yemen and an airline company from Zambia were among the participants of Tuesday’s event.

Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Abdulkarim Badri, the managing director of Petram Private Limited Co. from Ethiopia, said they looked forward to sharing the technology experience of Turkish companies with their projects at home. The company operates in construction, food and beverage and cleaning products sectors. Noting that they export products to markets surrounding his country, Badri said they could increase business with third parties if they join powers with Turkish businesses. Yohannes Teklay from Ethiopia’s Yotek construction firm said they had 14 projects currently under way at home and they considered launching new projects, particularly in road construction. “We are keen to seal partnerships with Turkish construction companies who have finalized successful projects all around the globe… We have already met with some of them and I have faith we will reach a favorable partnership from this summit,” he explained.

Akhil K. Chapagain, the general manager of AKHIL Trading Concern Ltd. from Nepal said they planned to invest $100 million for a hydroelectricity plant in his country and sought to find Turkish entrepreneurs engage in this project. Chapagain says he also allocated $10 million to establish a hospital in Nepal. Salah Ali Adem Bereket, a former governor from Sudan expects to establish a fruit juice facility in his country and looks for Turkish partners for the project, worth $500,000.

İsmail Ghazanfar is the CEO of Ghazanfar Group, an Afghan conglomerate which operates in banking, fuel storage, mining and construction sectors. He says they are planning to invest $10 million for the construction of a new liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage terminal — with a capacity of 2,000 tons — and are expecting to cooperate with a Turkish construction firm for this project. Noting that they have finalized eight construction projects with a Turkish firm in Afghanistan since 2004, Badri says they can put their trust in the high-quality work realized by Turkish firms and that is why they are looking for a Turkish partner for this project. Badri also plans to sign a deal with a Turkish bank to ease money transfers between the two countries. He says they are ready to provide the necessary support and knowledge to any Turkish entrepreneur contemplating to enter the Afghan market which he describes as “highly lucrative.”

Douangta Matmanisone, the managing director of DM Construction and Trading Co. from Laos said they expected to import technology infrastructure from Turkey, particularly for water drilling, supply and wastewater management projects in her country. Having met with nine Turkish firms, she is hopeful she will see a profitable partnership. Matmanisone said they would also prefer quality Turkish construction materials over those shipped from China.

Also, as part of the TUSKON trade fair, 150 companies displayed their products at 35 country stands.
Zambezi Airlines, THY partnership on horizon

Maurice Jangulo is the chairman of Zambia’s only airline company Zambezi Airlines. He told Today’s Zaman that they are considering partnering with Turkey’s national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) to offer direct flights to the Zambian capital. “Once THY begins flights, we will help transfer the passengers to destinations all across Southern Africa. We are at the center of the south and you can reach 10 countries within one-and-a-half hours. We have flights to six countries now and want to branch out into more markets with THY,” he said. Jangulo thinks the partnership could serve around 200,000 passengers annually.

Jangulo says THY has carried out successful partnership and sponsorship programs particularly in Europe and that they would become the first African carrier to partner with THY. Before Jangulo left to meet THY CEO Temel Kotil to discuss partnership, he said he has faith they could reach a favorable outcome. “We have much in common… THY has flights to other parts of Africa and we can support them with transfer flights into other corners of the continent,” he said. This partnership, if signed, he continued “could help open a new horizon” as two governments could then consider annulling existing visa requirements between the two nations.

10 May 2011
SOURCE: TODAYS ZAMAN