SPEECH OF HER EXCELLENCY ISTEM CIRCIROGLU, AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE, AT THE CEREMONY OF PRESENTATION OF HER LETTERS OF APPOINTMENT TO HER EXCELLENCY CHILESHE MPUNDU KAPWEPWE, THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF COMESA (24.5.2021)

Excellencies, Madam Secretary General,

Distinguished members of the press,

On this happy occasion, I have brought to you warm greetings of His Excellency Mr. Mevlut Cavusoglu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye and his congratulations on tomorrow's Africa Day.

Today, let me underline Türkiye's policies in Africa.

Our approach to African countries is built on a holistic, inclusive and equal partnership on the basis of mutual respect and benefit.

We share the vision of Africa, and attach great importance to Agenda 2063 and UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

We have covered plenty of ground with the 1st Türkiye-Africa Partnership Summit that we hosted in Istanbul in 2008.
After the 2nd Summit in Malabo in 2014, our ties with African countries have become even stronger. We hope to host the Third Summit in our country this year, which we believe will offer opportunities for a strong and comprehensive cooperation between Türkiye and Africa.

We continue to contribute to peace and stability and economic and social development in Africa through our public institutions, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. The official development aid provided by our public institutions to Africa between 2005 and 2019 has reached almost 3.5 billion Dollars.

Türkiye, which is the 5th country in the world in terms of the number of diplomatic missions, continues to bring the issues of Africa to the agenda at the global level, and also continues to cooperate with African countries in regional and international platforms.

Furthermore, we continue to develop our commercial and economic relations with a win-win approach. The total value of our direct investments in Africa has exceeded 6 billion Dollars. We applaud the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, which is considered the most important project of Agenda 2063.

Last year we announced the Digital Diplomacy initiative by taking advantage of the transformative power of technology. We believe Africa’s focus on digitalization for sustainable development is very significant.

We will continue to be in unity and solidarity with African countries and work closely with African regional organizations, including our partner COMESA. We commend COMESA for the outstanding work it is diligently undertaking and we wish for its further success.

Finally, here today, I have the honour to present to your Excellency Madam Secretary General, the Letters of His Excellency Minister Çavuşoğlu appointing me as the representative of the Republic of Türkiye to COMESA.