India, Turkey to enhance bilateral ties

Kolkata: Ambassador-Designate of India to the Republic of Turkey Mr Sanjay Bhattacharyya on Monday stressed on the importance of cultural ties between Kolkata and Turkey.

He laid emphasis on the promotion of tourism between the two countries.

He was addressing a special session: 'Economic Climate and Business Opportunities in Turkey and Egypt' organised by Bharat Chamber of Commerce at its office.

He briefed the business community of Kolkata to new opportunities of trade and investment in Turkey and Egypt while addressing the session.

While talking to the Millennium Post on the sideline of the programme, he said a festival on Rabindranath Tagore will be organised in Egypt to boost cultural ties between the two countries. He also visited Shantiniketan recently in this regard.

He said there has been an influx of tourists to Egypt from India but the number of people visiting India from Egypt is not up to the mark due to lack of tour operators.

During his speech, Bhattacharyya said as a result of the recent transformation in the Egypt, more transparency is being induced in the system of business practices through Legislative and Economic reforms.

Turkey's economy witnessed a significant momentum of growth during the last decade and a half.

In this context, Mr Sitaram Sharma, president, Bharat Chamber of Commerce referred to increased trade between India and Turkey recorded at USD 5.85 billion during 2016.

He also laid emphasis on creation of a Free Trade Agreement in order to expand the horizon of economic ties between the two countries. Egypt ranks as the best FDI destination in Africa

for India.