Mansfield: Turkish and Egyptian economies complement each other

Against the backdrop of a high-profile visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to post-revolution Egypt, Zuhal Mansfield, the Foreign Economic Relations Board's (DEIK) Turkish-Egyptian Business Council chairwoman, indicated that the economies of their two countries do not compete but rather complement each other, predicting a higher-than-expected increase in future trade. "Both countries bridge two continents. Just as Turkey bridges Asia and Europe, Egypt serves as a bridge between African and Arab regions as well. We are two countries that have territories stretching into three continents and are neighbors to large regions," she told Today's Zaman. Mansfield underlined that in addition to shared geographical similarities, historical and cultural ties exist between the two countries. Mansfield said that Erdogan's visit to Egypt made a greater impact than the many friendly statements that have been made up until now. She noted that the prime minister's visit was important in putting mutual friendly statements into practice and will help pave the way to further action regarding bilateral ties. According to Mansfield, Erdogan's visit was to support Turkish businessmen doing business with Egypt. "The most important message of this visit is that the Turkish and Egyptian business worlds will become further integrated. In order to generate interest in developing a commercial relationship between the two countries, love and affection between their people are needed. We were welcomed with love and affection in Egypt. So, I can say that trade volume between Turkey and Egypt will not only increase but also gain even more momentum after this point,” she explained.