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Turkish Airlines

Christopher Charamba : Business Reporter

Turkish Ambassador Kadir Hidayet Eris has said a deal to bring Turkish Airlines to Zimbabwe is imminent. In an interview with The Herald Business recently, Ambassador Eris said that the airline should begin operating by the end of the year or early next year. “I have been working to bring Turkish Airlines to Zimbabwe. We have signed the new civil aviation agreement and so operations should begin soon. I sent it (the agreement) to the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe to be ratified so it is valid now.“They said they were very eager to see Turkish Airlines in Zimbabwe and they will provide all the rights that other airlines like Emirates enjoy,” he said.

Ambassador Eris said that once the airline began operating, it would create numerous business opportunities for Zimbabwe.

“Our investment in Zimbabwe is currently around $20 million but we can easily raise this to $500 million. Once Turkish Airlines starts flying from Harare to Istanbul, you will see a huge difference as it will be easier for investors to travel here.

“It takes seven hours from here to Istanbul and two hours to Germany or three hours to London. Turkish Airlines will provide the best connection to Europe with the best airline in Europe,” he said

The Turkish Embassy had already begun facilitating for investment between Turkey and Zimbabwe.

“The Turkish economy is over $700 billion in size and we want to come and invest in this part of Africa especially Zimbabwe.

“There was a delegation representing the Turkish business association called DEiK in Zimbabwe recently and they signed an MOU with CZI in Harare so we are hoping that with legal frameworks in place they can continue to grow this relationship,” Ambassador Erin said.

The Ambassador added that the two key areas that Turkey could potentially invest in Zimbabwe are construction and agriculture, with a focus on textiles.

“Turkey is very good in construction. We are ranked second after China globally in terms of contracting companies with 35 and have the most contractors in Russia currently. Should they start coming to Zimbabwe, Turkish contractors have a lot of ventures which they can undertake.

“Another key industry for Turkey is the textiles. We rank really highly globally in our textiles and Zimbabwe has a good climate for growing cotton. If the Turks come here, they can invest highly in the textile industry,” he said.

According to Ambassador Erin the US dollar that Zimbabwe currently uses is dollar is good for potential investor and as such Turkey can become a good strategic partner for Zimbabwe.