CERAMİCS AND CEMENT SECTORS ARE IN AFRICA

A Sectoral Trade Delegation was organized for the first time to Ghana and Nigeria by the Cement, Glass, Ceramics and Soil Products Exporters' Association on 14-18 January 2019 with the participation of 14 of our companies. In line with the targets of increasing our country's exports, the wide African market continues to promise potential for our exporters.

The first leg of the delegation started with the bilateral business meetings held in Accra, the capital of Ghana, on Tuesday, January 15, 2019. A total of 64 local companies participated in the delegation, which was attended by our Ghana Commercial Counselor Mr. M.Buğra KARAMIŞ and the Ministry of Commerce observer Mr. R. Alper ERDİL. In addition to companies active in the construction sector, companies that want to buy products from Turkey, investors, product wholesalers and importers of the relevant sector showed interest in the talks. Detailed information about the products of the Turkish ceramics and cement industry was shared by our participating companies, and ideas were exchanged on the Ghana market.

The next day, with the initiative of the Akra Chamber of Commerce, field visits were made to important companies in the local market. Thus, it was possible to analyze the market better. Evaluations of our companies; that the site visit provides a good opportunity to become better acquainted with the trends and needs of the market.

On the same day, the Ambassador of Accra, Özlem Gülsün ERGUN ULUEREN, received the Chairman of the Board of Directors Erdem ÇENESIZ and the accompanying delegation.

On Thursday, January 17, 2019, major companies from the construction industry participated in the bilateral business meetings held in Lagos, the largest city of Nigeria. In addition, meetings were held with 32 local companies that want to invest and take their place in the construction sector. In the Nigeria program, in which our Abuja Commercial Counselor Mr. Onur AKGÜL also participated, our participating companies came together with such delegations that they could get closer to geographies that are far from our country more easily.

In today's economy, where increasing our exports is the first priority, sectoral trade delegations organized with the organization of our Union and the contributions of our companies are an important step for our exporting companies that want to open up to new markets in these geographies. The relations established in B2B meetings prepare the ground for future negotiations and these wide markets meet with quality Turkish products.

In line with the views and demands of our companies participating in the said delegation, similar delegations to different countries in Africa will continue to be organized this year. Especially the Sub-Saharan African market continues to be one of the important target markets for our exporters in the ceramic and cement sector as well as in all other sectors.

Our participating companies: