Azernews.Az

Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu attended the opening ceremony of the TransMEA 2025 Middle East and Africa Smart Transport, Logistics and Infrastructure Exhibition and Forum held in Cairo, Egypt.

Speaking at the event, Minister Uraloğlu announced that in October 2025, Egypt ranked first among countries engaged in container transportation with Turkish ports, both in terms of exports and imports.

The opening ceremony, also attended by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, marked the official authorization for the trial operation of Egypt’s first Velaro high-speed train. Following the ceremony, Minister Uraloğlu posed for a family photo with Prime Minister Madbouly and his counterparts from various countries.

During his visit, Uraloğlu held meetings with high-level officials and transport ministers from several countries and toured the exhibition area, where he visited pavilions, including those of Turkish companies, to exchange views with participants.

Referring to the October 2025 maritime transport data prepared by the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs, Uraloğlu noted that the total container volume handled at Turkish ports rose by 3.5 percent year-on-year in the January–October period, reaching 11,685,357 TEU. In October alone, container throughput increased by 3.3 percent to 1,193,441 TEU, compared with the same month last year.

Commenting on Egypt-related shipping activity, Uraloğlu stated:

“In October, Egypt was the leading country in terms of container arrivals at Turkish ports via maritime routes, with 88,476 TEU. It was followed by Greece, with 48,419 TEU, and China, with 36,335 TEU.”

He further noted that Egypt also topped the list for container exports from Turkish ports, with 93,058 TEU loaded for destinations in Egypt. “This reflects the strengthening of maritime trade between Turkiye and Egypt,” he said. Uraloğlu added that Egypt was followed by China (43,192 TEU) and Italy (33,316 TEU) in outbound container shipments.

Thus, in October 2025, Egypt ranked first in both loading and unloading operations at Turkish ports, with a total of 181,534 TEU containers linked to Egypt — accounting for more than 15 percent of all containers handled nationwide that month.

Minister Uraloğlu is also scheduled to take part in a high-level panel tomorrow alongside transport ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Greece, and South Africa. The session, titled “Connecting the Middle East and Africa in Industry, Transport, and Logistics,” will focus on regional cooperation in mobility and infrastructure.

At what is considered one of the region’s largest transportation platforms, Uraloğlu will share Turkiye’s experience in transport and infrastructure investments, highlighting recent mega projects and the Development Road Project, which reflects Turkiye’s vision for enhanced regional connectivity.