Felix Tih and Gokhan Ergocun
11 February 2020•Update: 11 February 2020
ANKARA/ISTANBUL
Zambia will host the first-ever Turkey-Zambia Joint Economic Commission in a bid to further enhance bilateral trade and investments between the two countries, a statement said.
Sebnem Incesu, the Turkish ambassador to Zambia, said the deliberations will be based on trade, investment, industrial cooperation, energy and mining, agriculture and forestry, health, education, transportation and tourism, according to a statement issued by the state-run Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS).
The event is slated for Feb. 12 -13.
Zehra Zumrut Selcuk, the Turkish family, labor and social services minister, and Joseph Malanji, the Zambian foreign affairs minister, will head the commission.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an official visit to Lusaka last July called for organizing the commission.
The trade volume between Turkey and Zambia in 2019 amounted to $23.8 million. Turkey’s exports to Zambia were worth $17.86 million, whereas its imports from Zambia were at $5.9 million, according to official data.
Turkey has carried out humanitarian work in Zambia through its charities.
Since last December, Turkish Airlines started flights between Istanbul and Lusaka.
Zambian students have been offered scholarships to Turkey for nearly three decades.
Zambia exports copper, cocoa products, gold, and tobacco while it imports finished products and machinery, according to the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK).
