East African Business Week

ARUSHA, TANZANIA- The Turkish Ambassador to Tanzania, who is also his country's representative to East African Community (EAC), Dr. Sander Grubuz, has disclosed that because of the growing interests and trade between Turkey and the EAC, the country's airline now operates direct flights to Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Entebbe International Airports.
"My country's policy towards the EAC and Africa in general is not only selling but we are also investing in agriculture, infrastructure, mining so that we have a win-win situation for both parties as jobs for locals will be created and exports enhanced," said Ambassador Grubuz.
He said this last week when he held a meeting with the Secretary General of the East African Community, Dr. Richard Sezibera at the EAC secretariat in Arusha, Tanzania.  
A statement issued by the EAC said that the talks centred on prospects for up scaling the Turkish-EAC economic relations.
 The ambassador said his country's foreign policy is geared towards opening more space towards Africa.
He said in the last two years, Turkey had opened fourteen new embassies in Africa out of which two were in the East African Community member states of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam and Kampala in Uganda respectively.  
He said Rwanda and Burundi were on the list of countries where new embassies are to be opened.
He revealed that Turkey recently played a key role in evacuating twenty five Rwandese students who were stranded in Tripoli, Libya following the political unrest in that country.
"Turkish international schools have also been established in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania with over 10,000 local students, on top of that we are also offering scholarships to students in the EAC partner states to pursue further education in Turkey," asserted Dr. Sander Gurbuz.  He also disclosed that the embassy was in advanced discussions with the EABC to hold an EAC-Turkey Business Forum.