CAIRO: Turkey is looking to extend its recent “visa-free†campaign as the visiting Turkish industry and trade minister said Tuesday that the visa requirement between his country and Egypt must be ended. It is part of Ankara's attempts to become more integrated with the Middle East, the minister said. “Hopefully, talks on the issue will be completed, and the visa requirement between our two countries will come to an end,†Minister Nihat Ergün said after meeting with Egyptian Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid in Cairo. Turkey has recently lifted visa restrictions with Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Sudan and Albania. Ergün said Turkey and Egypt shared deep historical and cultural relations and that the geography the two countries are situated on presents many opportunities. “Businesspeople, investors and the peoples of the two countries must benefit from such opportunities,†he said. “We are working to promote relations between Turkey and Egypt. One of the steps taken in this direction was the signing of a free trade agreement. With this agreement, the trade volume between Turkey and Egypt exceeded $3 billion.†There are other steps that the two countries must take, Ergün said. “We have evaluated such steps. We will focus on strengthening relations between Turkish and Egyptian banks,†he added. “When Turkish banks open branches in Egypt and vice versa, business people’s tasks will become easier,” he added. BM
