Egyptian businessmen hold talks with counterparts in Turkey

A group of Egyptian businessmen has arrived in southern Turkish province of Adana following Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Egypt last week.

Fourty-one Egyptian businessmen from the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce will hold talks with their Turkish counterparts in the southern provinces of Adana, Mersin and Gaziantep till September 20.

In Adana, the first stop of their tour of Turkey, Egyptian businessmen met Turkish businessmen.

Zuhal Mansfield, chairman of Turkey-Egypt Business Council, said that the annual trade volume between the two countries increased to $3.17 billion from $60 million in ten years.

"Now, we target to increase our annual trade volume up to $5 billion. We want to sign a free-trade agreement till 2015," he said.

Sadi Surenkok, chairman of Adana Chamber of Commerce, said that Turkey and Egypt had shared the same civilization, same religious belief and a common culture for centuries.

"Our countries have similar geographical, strategic and economic targets. Our trade volume has been increasing since 2002. As Prime Minister Erdogan said during his visit to Cairo, we will increase our trade volume to $5 billion within two years and up to $10 billion within four years," he said.