KHARTOUM, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Sudan and Turkey have formed a partnership to establish the first copper firm in the Red Sea State in eastern Sudan.
The deal was sealed Thursday during the meeting between a visiting Turkish delegation and Sudan's Minerals Minister Hashim Ali Salem.
"The primary talks resulted in the importance of establishing a copper factory in Sudan," Shaheen Teng, head of the visiting Turkish delegation, told reporters Thursday.
He reiterated that the two governments are willing to increase the early volume of trade from 2 billion U.S. dollars to 10 billion dollars.
"We are seeking to make use of Sudan's minerals infrastructures to reach those figures and beyond," Teng said.
Red Sea State Governor Ali Hamid said the Turkish Genghis Company would establish the copper factory in partnership with Sudan's Ariab Mining Company.
"Genghis is one of the grand Turkish mining and energy companies. We are looking forward to establishing the first copper factory in Sudan at Ariab mine which contains huge reserves of over 5 billion tons," he said.
In November last year, Sudan's Ariab Company announced that it has a mine in eastern Sudan containing the biggest copper reserve in the world.
Late December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced during a visit to Sudan that Turkey plans to increase its annual trade volume with Sudan to 10 billion dollars.