NEWS FROM TÜRKİYE

The New Anatolian - Türkiye and Kuwait are set to become strategic partners after a deal aiming to collaborate in construction projects, a move to draw foreign capital to Türkiye. Turkish and Kuwaiti officials signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday to work together on mass housing and residential estate projects. Officials from Türkiye's Housing Development Administration (TOKI) and Kuwait's Investment Bank (KIA), signed the MoU at a meeting of Turkish-Kuwaiti Business Council held in Istanbul. Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Kuwaiti Amir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah attended the meeting. The MoU is expected to be implemented in a year and it will be a platform to draw Gulf capital to Türkiye, TOKI officials said. Within the scope of strategic partnership between the two countries, Kuwait is expected to finance a mass housing project in Istanbul as a priority. The project covers the construction of 66,000 residential estates at Kayabasi district. "Kuwait will start investments in Türkiye with a project that would not worth less than 1 billion USD," TOKI officials said. TOKI plans to build half a million residential estates until 2012.