By:Dwight Links

Turkish ambassador to Namibia, Feral CekerekOruckaptan says Türkiye aims to strengthen the ties between Windhoek and Ankara through trade.

“We can contribute to the development of economic and commercial relations between the two countries,” Oruckaptan said.

He indicated that Namibia’s open-door strategy for business is the secondary motive to pursue trade between Windhoek and Ankara.

“Türkiye remains a real friend to countries on the African continent as the embassy in Namibia is one of the first missions that were opened on the continent,” she added.

The Turkish development agency, TIKA, has been headquartered in Namibia since 2014 and has completed more than 100 projects in the country.

The interest in Namibia comes from the surge in visits from the Turkish business community.

He said focus was placed on how friendly the business environment in the country is.

Oruckaptan said the queries from Europe centred on the tax policies in Namibia, the access to bid and tenders, the process of setting business and what impact the Southern African Customs Union has had on investor relations.

She gestured that these queries are with the Namibia Investment and Promotion Development Board (NIPDB).

The Turkish ambassador pointed out that a vacuum of business and economic data exists in order to help the Turkish investor who is seeking to enter southern Africa through Namibia.

The Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK), a partner entity of NIPDB, was also present at the same engagement.

Muhammed Bedir, the Chairperson of the DEIK Turkiye-Namibia Business Council added that the trade volumes were very small for the 2022 trading year.

“The trade volume for 2022 between the two countries was witnessed as being only U$18 million. This also represented the downward trend that has been going on since the highest trade volume of 2015 at U$ 85 million,” Bedir said.

“The downward trend was due to various factors that have been observed,” he added.

Bedir also said the aim of the DEIK Turkiye-Namibia Business Council is to encourage trade relations that saw the peak performance of 2015.

“2015 is the short term goal for now, however in the medium to long term it is our ambition to achieve new peaks through trade between the two countries,” he indicated.

He revealed there is a planned visit by a Turkish delegation to Windhoek this year to seek future opportunities and further possible trade relations between Namibia the southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia country.