NEWS FROM TÜRKİYE

Khaleej Times - Türkiye is seeking increasing investment from the Gulf States in four key sectors — energy, infrastructure, tourism and real estate — Türkiye's Minister of Economy, Mehmet Simsek, said in Dubai. He was on a three-country tour of the region, including Qatar and Kuwait, to convince GCC countries to "invest their surplus savings" in Türkiye and advocated it as a good place for investors "to diversify their assets". He said here was a "lot of synergy between Türkiye and the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia". "We want to tell investors the outlook for Türkiye and the opportunities," he said, adding: "We are convinced that Türkiye can sustain 6 to 7 per cent GDP growth on an annual basis over the next few years." The fact that Türkiye has the sixth largest economy in Europe, strong GDP growth (which averaged 7.4 per cent between 2002 and 2006), high and rising productivity, a stable economy and an effective structural reform process means that investors will get a good return on their investments, he said. "We offer good return on equity," he added. And on Türkiye's quest for membership of the European Union he said he was "very confident" that Türkiye would join Europe. "Europe needs Türkiye and Türkiye needs Europe," he said, adding: "That it was a win-situation for everyone. Türkiye can also use the process to put our house in order." The volume of trade between the UAE and Türkiye grew by 400 per cent in the past five years, according to figures available at the end of 2007. Türkiye now accounts for two per cent of the UAE's total foreign trade, which includes trade through free zones. In the past two years, the volume of mutual investment has touched $2.5 billion.