A Turkish leather company has submitted a request to the Ministry of Industry for an 80,000 square metre plot of land in Leather City, Al-Roubeiki, with plans to establish a LE2 billion ($39.5 million) factory there, according to the Al-Arabiya news channel, which did not name the source or the company.
The company has reached an advanced stage in the negotiations, and an official announcement regarding the project is expected soon, it said.
The news is in line with the increasing interest shown by Turkish investors in Egypt, with the representatives of nine Turkish companies meeting Industry Minister Kamel Al-Wazir last month to talk about potential investment in sectors topped by textiles, ready-made garments, packaging, and home appliances.
Salih Mutlu Şen, the Turkish ambassador to Egypt, recently told reporters that Turkish investments in Egypt are expected to increase to $10 billion in 2025, up from over $8 billion in 2024.
Egypt is Turkey’s largest trading partner in Africa, while Turkey ranks as the second-largest importer of Egyptian goods, according to the Egyptian cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Centre.
Trade volumes between the two nations reached $8.8 billion in 2024, marking a $1 billion year-on-year increase, Şen said.
Egypt has extensive trade agreements with various major economic blocs, including free-trade agreements with African countries, Europe, and the Arab world. These agreements provide substantial export opportunities, making Egypt an attractive hub for Turkish investors, said Adel Lamei, head of the Egyptian side of the Egyptian-Turkish Business Council.
The lower cost of Egyptian labour, estimated at one-fifth of the cost of labour in Turkey, and cheaper energy costs of about one-third or half the price are compelling incentives for Turkish businesses to expand operations in Egypt, Lamei said.
Hamada Al-Agwani, vice president of the Turkish Businessmen’s Association in Egypt (TOMIAD), said prime among the factors attracting Turkish investors to Egypt are infrastructure development, lower production costs, and Egypt’s trade agreements with various economic blocs.
In February 2024, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pledged to elevate trade with Egypt to $15 billion in the short term, pointing to discussions on cooperation on energy and defence. According to Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics, the two countries recently signed a joint declaration to revive collaboration in the fields of diplomacy, banking, energy, tourism, and defence.
Nihat Akıncı, Chair of the TOMIAD, said that 2025 had commenced with strong momentum in trade relations, with four Turkish trade delegations visiting Egypt and conducting over 300 high-impact meetings.
Akıncı said that the Association seeks to enhance investments among Egyptian and Turkish businessmen and establish globally competitive collaborations through knowledge-exchange and integration, noting that within the next two months an Egyptian business delegation will visit Turkey, and a Turkish trade mission is scheduled to visit Egypt in May.
Akıncı also pointed to the steady rise in Turkish corporate participation in Egyptian trade exhibitions.
Turkish investments in Egypt are concentrated in the textiles, apparel, chemicals, and leather industries, with industrial hubs located in Ameria, 10 Ramadan city, Borg Al-Arab, Port Said, and 6 October city.
In 2024, 350 new Turkish companies were established in Egypt, pushing total Turkish investments to $3.5 billion, Akıncı said on Saturday. Expansions in existing ventures have contributed to a 23 per cent year-on-year surge in non-energy trade.
Akıncı stressed the necessity of incorporating agricultural products into the free-trade agreement signed between the two nations in 2005.
January witnessed $672,000 in Turkish investments in Egypt, marking a 17 per cent increase on last year. Bilateral trade is projected to reach $13 billion, in line with the commitments of the Egyptian and Turkish presidents.
While diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed after the 30 June Revolution, which ended the year-long rule of the Muslim Brotherhood group in Egypt, which was supported by Erdoğan, trade and investment between the two countries were not affected.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 13 March, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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