07
Nov
In an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman, Abdillahi, said his country aims to be the Dubai of the region: a trade center, a gateway for the whole African market.
Djibouti is a Muslim East African country, with French and Arabic its official languages.
Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi is expected to visit Djibouti this week with a delegation of Turkish businessmen.
Ambassador Abdillahi said Djibouti expects Turkish businessmen to bring their products to the free zones in Djibouti, to build warehouses and to sell their products without paying any tax.
Abdillahi became his country’s first ambassador to Turkey, after Djibouti opened its embassy in Ankara in 2012. Turkey followed suit in 2013 with an embassy in Djibouti.
Speaking about Zeybekçi’s visit, Abdillahi said the delegation will be going to Djibouti and Addis Ababa as well. “As Djibouti and Ethiopia, we are in the same region and we are using the same facilities, and we are looking for economic integration in the next few years. In that sense, for Zeybekçi, I think it’s a good idea to link the two visits to Addis Ababa and Djibouti,” said Abdilahi.
When asked about his expectations for Zeybekçi’s visit, Abdillahi said: “We have a really clear idea about what we would like to do and what we are expecting from the business community in Turkey. We have invested a lot in port facilities, in our railways, highways to link Djibouti to the region. And we are the entry point of the region. In fact, we have 1,200 trucks leaving the ports of Djibouti to Ethiopia on a daily basis.”
He said the Ethiopian government is building an electrified railway between the two countries and that by the year 2015 the railroad will be operational. “Things are going very fast. We hope this new infrastructure will boost the economies of the region,” he added.
Stressing that Djibouti is building two ports and two free zones at this time, Abdillahi said his country is constructing an LNG terminal as well.
“In Ethiopia, there are various foreign companies working in the mining sector, and especially in the oil and gas sector. A Chinese company is building a gas pipeline from Ethiopia to Djibouti. Of course, we need help from outside to prepare all these facilities, especially building the LNG terminal in Djibouti,” he said.
Ambassador Abdillahi explained: “Our ambition is to be like Dubai: a center. We are working very closely with Ethiopia, one of the most populated countries in Africa with 85 to 90 million people — and the growth rate is very high. Many Turkish companies have moved to Addis Ababa or thereabouts — mainly textile companies: five or six of them. And electric cable companies as well. Of course, they are using the ports of Djibouti and the facilities we have in Djibouti. What we expect from the business community that is going to Djibouti soon with the minister of economy is to use all the facilities in the free zones. And in the free zones there is going to be a big opportunity. You can target the whole region. We are making sure that all those facilities we are building, and the railway, will be ready by 2015. ”
When asked which business sectors Djibouti would like to attract, Abdillahi replied that they would like to have some small business.
“I know that Turkey can do a lot. The opportunity is really huge. For example, we are importing as a region from Turkey a total of $550 million per year, and it’s really nothing. When we consider the huge potential right now in the region, $550 million is nothing. I do believe that within two years it’s possible to double this amount. It’s important to reach out to the business community in Turkey and see what we can do together to enhance this trade volume together,” said the ambassador.
Abdillahi pointed out that the economy in Djibouti is very liberal, that the currency is linked to the US dollar and that they don’t have any currency fluctuation. He added that the banking system is up to international standards.
“In the free zone, you are exempt from any kind of taxation. We now have one free zone, and it’s completely full. At the moment we are building two other free zones,” he said.
Abdillahi said the energy sector is a very important area for cooperation between the countries “We are looking for investors in the energy sector,” he said. For other potential investment opportunities for the Turkish businessmen, Abdillahi cited the airline, construction and private health sectors.
“Turkish companies can invest in the free zones. Let’s say, invest in and build a warehouse. And then bring anything, furniture, steel, any kind of material, really anything they can sell in the free zones without paying any tax,” he said.
Abdillahi said Turkish companies need to act very quickly because other players see the opportunities in the region, warning that “tomorrow it will be too late” to invest in the region with many other countries in competition.
He pointed out that Turkish Airlines (THY) has four flights to Djibouti per week from Turkey.
“We have very good bilateral relations. We opened the embassy almost three years ago. Turkey opened an embassy in Djibouti in February of 2013. And since then we have been trying to work very hard to improve relations between the countries. We have memorandum of understandings on energy, education, military, water and irrigation. Turkey is an emerging country. In the African continent, maybe the new trend is to get closer to the emerging countries,” Abdillahi said.
Highlighting that many embassies from the African continent have opened in Turkey in recent years, Abdillahi said when he came to Ankara, there were only 12 African embassies but today this number has reached 30 in just three years. “This shows the new relationship between Turkey and Africa,” he said.