Türkiye ready to contribute to Gabon's development program

There are significant opportunities and potential for cooperation between Türkiye and Gabon, particularly in defense and aerospace, the Turkish trade minister said Friday.

Türkiye is ready to contribute to Gabon's 2025 Development Program and sectoral planning, Omer Bolat said at the Türkiye-Gabon Business Forum, organized by Türkiye's Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) in Istanbul.

He said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Gabonese President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema's meeting in Ankara was productive.

Noting that there were eight agreements signed at the meeting, Bolat said Türkiye and Gabon's trade is in a situation that deserves to rise to better levels.

"In this sense, after these eight agreements, we, as the Ministry of Trade, are ready to strengthen our economic relations in areas such as trade, investment, contracting, energy, fishing, and agriculture, with the participation of our valued business people, along with our Gabonese counterparts, and we will accelerate our work from now on," he said.

Türkiye is one of the world's top 11 defense industry manufacturers and exporters, exceeding $7 billion in exports last year and is projected to reach $8.5 billion this year, he stressed.

Noting that Gabon announced a five-year military investment program, he said Türkiye is ready to contribute to improving the tools and infrastructure required by the program.

Bolat also said Turkish contracting companies, which have completed 22 projects in the contracting sector to date in Gabon, have completed $2.7 billion in construction work in the country.

"Turkish contracting companies will stand with Gabon with all their might in the production of social housing within the framework of the national program to address the housing shortage announced by his excellency, the President of Gabon," he added.

- Türkiye-Gabon trade level to reach valuable point

Nail Olpak, the chair of DEIK, said like many other sectors, Gabon is developing its port and rail infrastructure, Türkiye has companies with international experience here, and project partnerships with Gabonese companies are possible.

Olpak said trade between Türkiye and Gabon is not sufficient, but it will reach a valuable point with modest and determined steps.

Türkiye and Gabon may cooperate in many sectors, from port management, railways, energy, highway and agriculture, he expressed.

Olpak said that there are investment opportunities in many areas such as energy, industry, agriculture and infrastructure in Türkiye and urged Gabonese businessmen to invest in Türkiye.​​​​​​​