The internationally recognized Libyan government based in Tripoli signed economic and trade understandings with Turkey in Ankara on Thursday, according to the Libya Herald daily.
The agreement is part of cooperation between the two countries to complete 184 stalled construction projects in Libya estimated at $16 billion.
Speaking at a press conference after the signing event, Tripoli’s planning minister, Taher Al-Jahemi, said Turkey had the ”lion’s share” of projects in Libya.
The deal will lay the groundwork for resolving ongoing issues between Turkish firms and Libyan employers, making new investments and undertaking new projects, Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan told a meeting held in Ankara, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Meanwhile, Libya’s sovereign wealth fund head plans to ask the United Nations to allow it to invest billions of dollars sitting idle in its accounts, after missing out on some $4.1 billion in potential equity returns during nearly a decade of sanctions, the Arab Weekly reported.
The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) was blacklisted in March 2011 because it was then controlled by the family of toppled ruler Muammar Gadhafi. Its assets were valued at $67 billion in 2012, but LIA plans to update that in October after a review by its financial adviser Deloitte.