|
|
‘Foreign Investors can Trust in
Turkey’s Stability’
By Isa Sezen, Istanbul
Thursday, September 28, 2006
zaman.com
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that
with political and economic stability in the
country, Turkey has become the kind of place that
global companies consider for investment.
With limited time spent on bureaucracy this year,
the influx of direct investment into Turkey from
abroad was expected to be three times bigger than
last year, said Erdogan. “The movement of foreign
investment into the country is a sign that the
Turkish economy has become more stable, stronger,
and far more resistant to shocks than ever.”
Erdogan joined a debate at a session of the 15th
Round-Table discussions, organized by The Economist,
where he gave a talk about the future steps Turkey
was expected to take in terms of its economy.
With a ˆ154.5 billion volume of business
transactions, the Turkish economy ranks 19th among
world economies.
The falling inflation rates of the past three years
are expected to continue this year.
The rate of the budget deficit to the gross national
product is now lower than three percent, while the
average performance of the private sector over the
last three years is 10 percent.
The biggest exports were mostly agricultural in the
1980s, but 90 percent of the export nowadays
consists of processed goods.
“This is the indication of the structural
transformation that the Turkish economy has been
undergoing. The demographic structure is young and
dynamic in the country, and with its consumer market
of 70 million, as well as with its rich natural
resources, Turkey has got a lot of basic things that
a foreign investor would like to seek,” said
Erdogan, stressing the point of encouragement in
attracting foreign investors.
Erdogan said that both domestic and foreign
investors could establish their own companies in
Turkey within a time limit of 24 to 48 hours.
“Experts say that Turkey is one of the top five
countries in the world that has managed to minimize
the amount of time spent on the bureaucratic process
before a company is established. Reduction in taxes
and provision of necessary means for European-origin
retailers have had a significant role to play in
attracting global capital to Turkey.”
Asked to comment on possible ways to convince the
European Union that Turkey’s accession would cause a
huge flood of labor from Turkey to European
countries, Erdogan said: “The Turkish government is
not seeking to export labor to European countries
because the current labor force in Turkey is very
good. Don’t compare the current labor force with the
one we had in the 1960s. European leaders are
telling the Turkish officials from time to time that
they would need a larger labor force in the near
future because the average age is increasing. If
there is going to be a move of labor force from
Turkey to European countries, it will be a qualified
labor force.”
To help company officials coming from abroad to
invest in Turkey, Erdogan has had a department
established to speed up the process for foreign
company officials to do business in Turkey.
‘I Can’t Tolerate Disrespect for the Prophet
Mohammad’
Erdogan evaluated the remarks that the pope made
recently, calling these remarks wrong and
disrespectful. Erdogan said: “If someone makes
disrespectful explanations about my prophet I cannot
tolerate this. We love Jesus Christ and Moses as
much as we love the Prophet Mohammad. No one should
dare to perform such an action about Islam. The pope
made this mistake.”
Erdogan replied to a question about what he would
tell pope when he visits Turkey: “The pope made some
maneuvers after making these remarks. He said
something that can be considered as a recession. His
tongue might have slipped. I think the Turkish
president will discuss this issue with him.”
Erdogan said similar to the believer of any other
religion, Muslims also expect respect for their
religion, adding: “The pope is somebody who has both
a political and religious identity. However, this
person used expressions that even a politician would
not dare to use.”
EU Should not Bring New Criteria for Turkey
Erdogan said Turkey’s negotiation process with the
European Union already started and it was
unacceptable adding new criteria into the Acquis
Communautaire half way in the process. Erdogan said
the screening process would be accomplished in
October and the negotiation process will be
difficult and would expand to a long time.
Erdogan said: “We do not want any priorities from
the European Union. However it is impossible for us
to accept new criteria half way through the process.
You cannot change the rules of the game half way
through, Turkey continues to fulfill its
responsibilities.”
Erdogan also referred to the anti-Turkey movements
in Europe and said Turkey’s membership was very
important for the European Union in order to show
that different cultures could co-exist without
problems and this would enable Europe to develop a
deeper strategy.
Erdogan said Turkey had tried hard to fulfill its
responsibilities to the European Union, adding that
there was no recession for the forms that Turkey was
now realizing with success.
Price of Failure in Iraq too High
Erdogan said bringing a permanent and fair solution
to the Middle East problem was a priority of his
government. “I can easily say that failure in
solving the problems in Iraq is too high for
everybody,” said Erdogan, and added the United
Nations was trying hard to solve the Lebanon
problem. Erdogan also added the average number of
people killed per day in Iraq was about 70, and this
number was scary.
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20060928&hn=36885 |
TURKEY NEWS
