Egypt's commercial consul in Istanbul said on Wednesday that the investments carried out by Turkish entrepreneurs in Egypt had reached 1.1 billion USD in 2009.

During his visit to Izmir Chamber of Commerce (IZTO), Mongy Aly Badr, the Egyptian Commercial Consul in Istanbul, said that Egypt's imports from Turkey were much greater than its exports to the country.

Badr said Egypt desired to increase its trade volume with Turkey to 5 billion USD by the year 2013.

Pointing to the growing Turkish investments in Egypt, Badr said, "We try our best to make the Turkish investors in our country earn more money than they do in Turkey".

Badr also said that Egyptians preferred to consume Turkish products.

IZTO's chairman Jak Eskinazi said in his part that commercial activities between Turkey and Egypt were on the rise.

Eskinazi also said Turkish investors saw Egypt as a "gateway to Africa".


AA