Government determined to make Turkey an attraction center
The economy minister Mehmet Şimşek said the government was determined to make Turkey an attractive center for investments and added that they attach great importance to the improvement of investment conditions for the private sector.
The Coordination Board for Improving Investment Conditions (YOİKK) convened yesterday under Şimşek’s presidency with the participation of public and private sector representatives. At the beginning of the meeting, Şimşek said Turkey was becoming an investment base in its region with a $270 billion foreign trade volume and an approximately $111 billion total in foreign direct investment (FDI). He the government had tried hard since coming into office in 2002 to implement needed structural reforms to establish a stronger and trusted economy.
Şimşek emphasized that the administration aims to implement further reforms to sustain fiscal discipline and to increase economic transparency, competitiveness and flexibility.
He said that the rise of the country’s economic and social welfare depends on the implementation of measures that increase global competitiveness and efficiency. “On this point the YOİKK’s efforts are a good example of public private cooperation and dialogue,” he said.
After Şimşek spoke, Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu commented that although there had been positive developments related to the economy there were still problems, emphasizing the need for Turkey to solve these problems. Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) President Oğuz Satıcı said that vocational training was particularly necessary.
Government convenes to assess economy
The Cabinet members steering Turkey’s economy convened for an economy assessment meeting yesterday to discuss recent developments in the global economy and their effects on Turkey along with key problems, such as unemployment and the current account deficit. The meeting was held in the newly constructed Prime Ministry building in Ankara and was presided over by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for the Coordination of Economic Affairs Nazım Ekren, Economy Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Foreign Trade Minister Kürşad Tüzmen, Finance Minister Kemal Unakıtan, Industry and Commerce Minister Zafer Çağlayan, Internal Affairs Minister Beşir Atalay and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan participated in the meeting as members of the Cabinet.
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputies Bülent Gedikli, Reha Denemeç and Şaban Dişli were also present at the meeting. Additionally, AK Party’s deputies known for their interest in economy, including Halil Erdoğan, Alaattin Büyükkaya and Mustafa Açıkalın, took part in the economy assessment meeting.
The main agenda of the meeting is expected cover the possible effects of the global fluctuations. Like all markets across the world, Turkish stocks are also being affected by this turbulence, which was triggered initially by the subprime mortgage loans in the US housing market. The losses in the İstanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB) have already exceeded 15 percent since the beginning of the new year.
The meeting was initially scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m., but it actually began one hour late since Erdoğan waited to hear Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt speak.
source: Today’s Zaman