Turkey wants to bolster cooperation with Togo, primarily in the agriculture, trade, and tourism sectors

Politics

Thursday, 26 October 2023 13:09

Turkey wants to bolster cooperation with Togo, primarily in the agriculture, trade, and tourism sectors

(Togo First) - Turkey’s new ambassador to Togo, Muteber Kilic, wants to help deepen the cooperation between the two countries. She voiced the ambition during a meeting with Togolese Prime Minister, Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe, on October 24.

In detail, the diplomat eyes stronger relations in the agriculture, tourism, and trade sectors.

"Turkey can bring a lot, especially in terms of experience in these sectors- agriculture, tourism- but also on the development of relations on an economic and commercial level," said Muteber Kilic.

While cooperation between Turkey and Togo is still embryonic on the agriculture and tourism fronts, trade between the two nations generated nearly $200 million last year, according to the Turkish ambassador. "And we'll be able to do much better in the coming years", she stressed, before adding that "Togo is on the right track" and that "together, we'll be able to assist it towards development".

Togo and Turkey have been working to improve their cooperation since 2020. In this framework, they have signed several deals and memoranda of understanding. Among others, they set up a mechanism for political consulting between their respective foreign affairs ministries; and agreed on a mutual visa exemption for official passport holders. They also signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the Togolese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Turkish Diplomatic Academy.

In October 2021, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, officially visited Togo, for the first time.

Esaïe Edoh

REFORMS OVERVIEW

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At the fifteenth position, worldwide, and first in Africa, under the Starting a Business index of the 2020 Doing Business ranking, Togo sustains its reformative dynamics with more reforms….

ENFORCING CONTRACTS (more info)

Compared to some years ago when it was one of the lowest rankers under the Doing Business’ Enforcing Contracts indicator, Togo, leveraging many efforts to improve its business climate, was able to jump significantly on the index in the recent years... .

CONTRACT EXECUTION (more info)

Creation of special chambers of commerce for small debts • Creation of chambers of commerce at the Court of Appeal • Civil and commercial cases now handled by distinct clerks • Establishment of commercial courts in Lomé and Kara • Lawyers and bailiffs now have access to the FORSETI COMMERCIAL platform • A maximum period of 100 days was fixed to settle a commercial dispute .

TRADING ACROSS BORDERS (more info)

In comparison to previous years,Togo has significantly improved its ranking under the“Trading across borders” indicator by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

In comparison to previous years, Togo has significantly improved its ranking on the “Trading across borders” index by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitalization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

CONSTRUCTION PERMIT (more info)

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GETTING ELECTRICITY (more info)

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REGISTERING A PROPERTY (more info)

Out of all the 'Doing Business’ indicators, Property Registration is where Togo has improved the most since 2018. Indeed, after spending years in the lowest part of this ranking, the country now seeks to beat Rwanda which is the best performer on this index in Africa. To do so, Lomé has been introducing many reforms, with the latest batch implemented this year.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (more info)

From professionalization to digitization, through legislative regulations, Togo’s public procurement framework is constantly being modernized. Several reforms have been implemented to improve the sector much to the benefit of the private sector, which is the focus of the National Development Plan.

PAYING TAXES AND DUTIES (more info)

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