Barış Öney
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim got together with the participants from the business, finance and investment community at the ‘Türkiye İyi Gelecek (Turkey will Feel Good)’ Conference, organized by Bloomberg HT. Binali Yildirim outlined the actions taken during the first 100 days of his prime ministry, and he emphasized that despite all the unprecedented odds which happened during this period, Turkey continued to take firm steps towards its bright future. The Prime Minister mentioned the solid economic status of Turkey and he said, “Turkey invests $150 billion annually.”
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim made important statements at the Conference. He talked about Turkey’s macro economic situation and the progress made for the Country’s citizens.
Yildirim told participants that Turkey gave a strong message to global investors that the Country was at the center of the global economy, not just a local actor. He added that, “The world was struggling for growth and in many areas, experiencing a decline. Despite this negative growth, there are a few number of economies that continue to grow. And certainly one of them is Turkey. He pointed out that Turkey has taken its place among the top 5 growing economies in the World recently. Turkey, further, grows with its private sector which is quite rare in the region. Turkey makes $150 billion worth of investments annually and 80% of it is done by the private sector.”
Prime Minister talked about the failed coup attempt which had taken place on the 15th of July, Friday night. He told that “Although we experienced such a terrible incident, there were no changes at Turkey’s economy other than normal fluctuations.”
“TURKEY RECEIVED 916 MILLION DOLLARS OF CAPITAL INFLOW IN AUGUST”
Yildirim added that, “Turkey attracted 916 million dollars of capital inflow in August. Turkey continues to grow consistently and confidently despite its struggle against terrorism, the situation in Syria and the instabilities in the region. There is a 10.5% export growth just this month, and it is the highest rate of growth as compared to the last 28 consecutive months.
He stated the actions they would continue to take for the economy; firstly investments will be promoted, then disputes will be resolved between citizens and the state and lastly burdens on the investors will be reduced. The effectiveness and the efficiency of The Development Bank is being increased at the moment to give a boost to investments. Also Eximbank is being developed to facilitate exporters’ access to finance. Company establishment is being simplified while liquidations are being hardened. On the other hand, savings in Turkey are trying to be increased, such as through making individual retirement payments being made automatic. The state offers 25% incentive on the premiums made for individual retirement savings.
To ease up and facilitate the work of the banking community, Turkey Sovereign Wealth Fund is planned. Turkey Wealth Fund is expected to provide funds for large capital infrastructure investments for projects, where it would not be possible to allocate funds from the general budget.”
Yildirim also talked about the mega projects of Turkey such as; the 3rd Bridge of the Bosphorus just being opened, the underwater tube line, the 3rd Istanbul Airport of Istanbul and the Çanakkale Bridge. All of those projects will take their places amongst the largest in the world from several points of view. Among them, the Çanakkale Bridge will be the largest bridge of the world in terms of its length. Also, the 3rd Istanbul Airport will be the biggest airport in the world in terms of its passenger capacity of 150 million passengers per year.
