KENYA – Turkey has concluded a three-day trade fair in Nairobi designed to strengthen economic and trade links with East Africa.
The East African Turkish Trade Fair, organised by Turkey and the Türkel Fair Organization, ran from 23 to 25 June. The exhibition aimed to discuss ways of boosting trade and economic relations between Turkey and the East African Community (EAC).
According to Kenyan media, trade between the two countries has grown from $15m to $245m in the last six years.
“When we compare the first four months of 2009 and 2010, we see a very steep increase,” says Turkish Ambassador to Kenya Tuncer Kayalar. “In 2009 our trade was around $17m; that increased to $46.6m in 2010.”
“Kenya is a huge market itself. It is also a member of the EAC, which has a population of 130m. Once we have our investors here, they will actually export to a market of 500m. We are urging our business communities to closely interact to establish joint ventures,” he continued.
