Gokhan Ergocun
21 October 2021•Update: 22 October 2021
ISTANBUL
A joint declaration was released Thursday during the third Turkey-Africa Economic and Business Forum, an event for enhancing partnership between Turkey and Africa for development and economic integration.
The two-day forum, which covers topics including Turkey-Africa partnership, collaboration in agriculture, pandemic measures, and innovation, is set to conclude in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul on Friday.
The event was attended by representatives of 45 African countries (out of 54 total), as well as private sector representatives, from both Turkey and the continent.
The declaration included 16 articles underlining the agenda of the meeting and laying out recommendations in many areas.
It stated that the forum supports the African Union's Agenda 2063 and the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for ensuring inclusive growth and sustainable development of the continent.
Praising Turkey's efforts and contributions to promote peace, stability, and infrastructure development in Africa, the declaration recommended strengthening collective dialogue, consolidating Africa-Turkey friendship, deepening mutual strategic collaboration, and enhancing the mechanism of practical cooperation between the two sides.
"Taking into consideration the remarkable performance shown with its steady growth over the last decade and being a major economic power in its region, Turkey expressed its readiness to share its development experience in different fields in order to broaden and strengthen the cooperation with African (Union) Member States," it underlined.
The forum encouraged the private sector to invest in priority areas such as technology, tourism, agriculture, electricity production, transmission and delivery facilities and services, aviation, maritime, education, health, and net zero carbon emissions.
Touching on establishing regional agro-processing and manufacturing hubs in Africa, the forum said they are important in agricultural manufacturing capacities.
Mentioning the start of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in January 2021, the reform said it will pave the way for more opportunities for economic and commercial relations between Turkey and Africa.
"The Forum underlined the important role of Women and Youth in the sustainable development of their countries and expressed its commitment to ensure that women and youth are provided with a conducive environment to enable them taking active part in the commercial and sustainable development spheres of both Africa and Turkey," it stressed.
