I want to acknowledge the presence of Minister Essop, our Minister of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in Western Cape. I am glad you are here to see what the fruit is of some of the work I do. They get very envious when I fly to Istanbul, under the impression that I go there for holidays. I am happy to say that they can also now take holidays with a direct flight between Cape Town and Istanbul.
The world is becoming much smaller and it is all because of airlines in addition to the Internet. We have seen the vital role of air transport in the process of bringing countries that are far away, closer together. I am very happy that in 2005, the Turkish government declared it the year of Africa. That was an enormous sense of vision to commit to making 2005 the year of Africa. This was not just a statement by the Turkish government because immediately, a follow up to begin creating trade relations with Africa began, which was then followed by commerce between Africa and Turkey.
More importantly, the air links between Turkey and Africa were opened up and that is why Turkish Airlines now flies to Darfur, Addis Abbaba, to Lagos - and since yesterday again, flies to Johannesburg and Cape Town. I am very happy that Cape Town is among those five destinations because for those of you who do not understand why we are in such a state of euphoria, why we are so excited about this, we will now have four regular flights a week, for 52 weeks a year, from Turkey to SA.
What that means is that we are looking at 186 flights per year, carrying 200 passengers and more per flight. The impact of this is that in one year, Turkish Airlines will bring half a million people to SA and to the Western Cape. We need to make sure that when they come they have a good time, that it is profitable and beneficial, but more importantly we also have to work.
I promised the chairman that I will make sure that South Africans are also able to take a flight out of Cape Town or Johannesburg and visit the beautiful country of Turkey, particularly Istanbul and the areas around Ankara. I think there is so much we have missed by not having a direct flight but that has been corrected. Thank you very much for once again bringing Turkey in reach or South Africans. We are going to make sure that we are able to see Turkey. I want to tell those South Africans who are amongst us, I have been to Turkey three times in the last few years. It is a marvel.
South Africans will not be able to understand how you can see the ruins of a massive civilization called the Byzantium civilization, it is there in Istanbul if they have not seen it. On top of it, you see the ruins of the holy Roman Empire, another civilization that was founded in Turkey. On top of that you see the Ottoman Empire a third civilization that existed there. All three on top of each other. You can still see the tolerance that existed as different civilizations and religions coexisted. It is something to see and we will only be poorer if we do not see this. There is an opportunity for us to walk in the footsteps of history, to be able to follow the footsteps of Alexander the Great as he made his way through those areas.
Mr Chairman, ambassador, I am sorry if I am doing your work. But someone has to be to say: now that the air link has been restored, we have to make sure that we get South Africans to understand that once upon a time, there were three civilizations that existed in Turkey and it gave birth to so much that we take for granted in the world today. We have a reliable partner in Turkish Airlines. The chairman has spoken about its results. In a world where air travel is a precarious business, in a world where flags have been taken for granted, have been destroyed because of bankruptcy because of inefficiency, because it could not cope with the demands of air travel today, here you have the Turkish Airlines that has not only survived, but has grown.
Here is an airline that has increased its fleet from 61 to 103. Here is an airline that has shown its net profit increase by 28% to realize profits of US$132 million. It is almost unheard of that that an airline can do that in an era of cutbacks. We are not given food on the plane anymore, they cut down on the toothpaste and other necessities. Turkish airlines on the other hand is saying: we are not just surviving, we are thriving. So we are very excited that we have such a reliable partner that is with us.
I want to say to the Turkish ambassador and to Turkish business people who have made this possible, who have allowed us to negotiate these flights, that we are committed as South Africans to making sure that South Africa and particularly Cape Town, becomes the springboard for Turkish business people to go into the continent of Africa. I am saying to you that this continent of Africa now that it is achieving peace, now that there is more democracy, now that the rule of law is established, now that banking institutions, judicial institutions and others are stabilizing Africa, it is quite evident that Africa is an economic giant that is waking up.
We do not want Africa to be re-colonized by businesspeople from the East. We need the muscle of a booming Turkish economy to come into Africa and to make sure that we sell our raw materials and our beneficiated products to the right people. We are opening our doors to allow business people from Turkey to come and invest in our infrastructure, in order to open the doors of trade across the whole of sub Saharan Africa, and that is the opportunity that South Africa opens for Turkish business people to the African economy.
The African economy is growing at a rate of 5,5% in GDP per year, there is more peace, there is more growth and I think we must share that growth with Turkey, a country which in 2005 already, when there was still some instability and civil wars in Africa, when there was not that much democracy, decided to make 2005 the year for Africa. That is the vision and foresight we must be able to reward as we are currently doing.
For the tourism industry of the Western Cape particularly, we can show Turkey at least one place in the world that can rival Istanbul for beauty. Then you live in a place where two continents meet, where half of your city is in Europe and the other half is Asian, when you have the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Ocean, when you have the coastal Mediterranean plains in the South and the historical cultural centerpieces in the north, there is very little that can compete with the beauty you have in your own country. But I want to say to you, encourage Turks to come and see Cape Town - they may fall in love with this country, I am not saying in which way - because you can fall in love with the place called Cape Town and we are sure that this is going to be a very busy line between Istanbul, Cape Town and Johannesburg.
So, for me, this is an enormously important evening and I am hoping that we are all going to do our work to ensure that this is a successful venture and we from our side are going to make sure that we participate in the marketing of Turkey, so that Turkish Airlines can be able to recoup its investment in this venture. So thank up you very much, congratulations and well done.
