Uganda Opens Consulate in Antalya Amid Growing Trade Ties with Turkey

Uganda's embassy in Turkey officially opened up an Honorary Consulate in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya in the south of Turkey, having approved Emek Eker as the East African nation's Honorary Consul to one of Turkey’s top tourist provinces.

The Consulate was commissioned on November 2021, according to a news release, which says that a series of exhibitions were held at Hilton Hotel in Antalya to promote Uganda as a competitive investment destination in Africa as well as a top tourism destination.

The event was presided over by Stephen Mubiru, Uganda’s Ambassador to Turkey and attended by Kerem Alp, the Turkish Ambassador to Uganda, political leaders, officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, business executives in Antalya, among others.

During the function, Mubiru persuaded Turkish investors and tourists to make Uganda a top choice, citing ripe sectors, including agriculture (coffee, cocoa, vanilla, etc.), education, health and ICT. 

Uganda's exports to Turkey increased by 30% in the first 9 months of 2021, according to Alp.

The ambassador attributed the growth to strong and enabling diplomatic policies established between the two countries.

"Clearly, increased contacts between our citizens had positive consequences for our bilateral trade. Our trade volume reached its peak in 2019, before the pandemic. Yet, in spite of the lockdowns, we managed to increase trade volume in 2020 by around 50%," the ambassador said in a statement.

"Our motto is: if Turkish traders want to sell more to Uganda, they should buy more from Uganda. This formula has worked well in 2021, Uganda’s exports to Turkey in the first 9 months of 2021 have increased by 30%."

Alp noted that by the end of 2021, total bilateral trade is expected to reach all-time record of US $70 million.

President Yoweri Museveni in October met with a delegation of investors from Turkey whom he impressed upon the idea of investing “in Uganda’s vibrant fruit processing sector”.

In a post-meeting statement, the Turkish embassy said it would focus on simsim and coffee initially, before transitioning to other sectors.

“Message well received from His Excellency and we shall focus on coffee, simsim and other food processing sectors for which Turkey is a big export market,” read the statement.

“We thanked him for keeping Uganda in peace and our investors safe.”

Turkey and Uganda have had diplomatic relations since 1969 and the Asian nation opened an embassy in Kampala in 2010.

Uganda's Embassy in Ankara was commissioned in 2011.

Away from trade, Turkey supports Uganda in its humanitarian activities, Ugandans have benefited from scholarships in Turkey and the two nations have strong security ties.