When in June, 2009 Cameroonian and Turkish authorities at the fourth edition of the Turkey World Trade Bridge in Istanbul, organised by the Confederation of Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) decided Yaounde will host the first ever Cameroon-Turkey Trade Fair, it was a clear sign cooperation between the two nations was getting to a new threshold.
The 86 businessmen and women who represented 60 companies at the Istanbul arrangement effectively laid down the groundwork for serious negotiations with high expectations on the establishment of sustainable agreements in Yaounde the following year.
True to the engagement taken in Istanbul, things were put on fast track with the Turkish President, Abdullah Gul personally leading the delegation of Turkish business and diplomatic personalities to the Yaounde trade fair, on an official visit. The visit, it should be recalled, epitomised in the signing of important agreements aimed at fostering cooperation between the two nations. One of such was the agreement on mutual abolition of visas for holders of diplomatic, service and special passports. Equally important was the Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of a political consultation mechanism between the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cameroonian Ministry of External Relations. Also to be remembered is the protocol agreement on Technical, Scientific and Economic Cooperation in the Field of Agriculture.
The seven cooperation agreements and MoUs signed in Ankara and spanning sectors such as diplomatic academies, communication, defence, hydrocarbons, mineral exploitation, maritime and tourism, further widen the scope of cooperation between Cameroon and this new found nation, Europe’s seventh economic power. Besides its potentials presented by President Paul Biya in Ankara and Istanbul, Cameroon appears as a veritable gateway for Turkey into the Central African sub region. President Abdullah Gul has been quick to underscore this and fervently thinks the opening of a Cameroonian Embassy in Ankara will facilitate and quicken issues stepping up trade to about 500 million dollars in the next five years.
The signing of agreements in effect, sets the pace for serious action to take the relay. Agreements and MoUs are lubricants and will yield little or no fruits if they are not well exploited. The challenge so to say will be in the hands of both the public and private sectors. The public sector will need to facilitate issues for Turkish businesses coming in to invest in the country and do same for Cameroonians wishing to undertake trade in Turkey. Already, Turkish investors have been showing growing interest in sectors such as wood processing, Housing, naval construction, textile, cotton, electricity, and food processing among others.
The undertakings that have immortalised the official visit of the Head of State to Turkey fall in line with the whole gamut of desires so far expressed since the 2009 trade fair where Turkey urged nations to dismantle trade barriers, promote economic cooperation and clear the path for the private sector to participate in economic build up. This certainly explains the presence of the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and handicraft; President of the Cameroon cartel, GICAM, President of ther Cameroon Company Movement (MECAM) and president of SORIBAT.
