A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between TÜBİTAK UME and the Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organization (SSMO) on January 21, 2014.
The Memorandum of Understanding, signed during the visit of TSE Director Hulusi Şentürk and TÜBİTAK UME Acting Director Dr. Fatih Üstüner to Sudan, sets the framework for cooperation in metrology between TÜBİTAK UME and SSMO. With the aim of strengthening the quality infrastructure of Sudan, TÜBİTAK UME will provide training and consulting services to SSMO.
During the visit, a Memorandum of Understanding and a Pre-Shipment Inspection (PSI) Implementation Program was also signed between TSE and SSMO. In accordance with the MoU, TSE and SSMO will initiate cooperation in the areas of standardization, conformity assessment, testing, inspections and calibrations. According to PSI Implementation Program, TSE has been delegated the authority to conduct pre-shipment inspections, testing and to issue conformity assessment certificates on goods and products that are to be exported to Sudan from Turkey or third countries.
As part of the visit, an information meeting on the activities of TÜBİTAK UME and TSE was held at the Association of Turkish – Sudanese Businessmen. Additionally, meetings were held with the Sudanese Minister for the Cabinet Ahmed Saad Omar and SSMO General Director Abdalla Hassan Eisa and a visit was made to the laboratories of SSMO.
Sudan, a large and important country in Africa with a population of 30 million and an approximate land area of 1.9 million square kilometers, has an economy that is reliant on agriculture and petroleum exports. Although Sudan lost nearly 80% of its petroleum reserves when South Sudan became independent in 2011, it maintains a strategic importance for the delivery of petroleum to world markets and has a large potential for development. The most important population centers of Sudan are Khartoum, located where the two largest branches of the Nile (White Nile and Blue Nile) meet, and Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.