Anadolu Agency - The 9th Investment Advisory Council (IAC) meeting, aimed at improving Türkiye’s image as an investment hub, attracting more foreign investors, and providing an international perspective to ongoing investment related reforms, was held on October 27 in Istanbul.
A highlight of the meeting was a declaration that was read on behalf of the companies at a news conference. Attending the news conference were Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Deputy Prime Ministers Mehmet Şimşek and Nurettin Canikli, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak, and Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci.
The declaration expressed the confidence of foreign companies in Türkiye’s economy in the wake of the defeated coup. Emphasizing that the Turkish government has been very helpful to investors via incentives and reforms, companies noted that Türkiye has outperformed most of the emerging economies in terms of growth rates. Investors also cited the medium-term program, the 10th development plan, and the government program as the main pillars Türkiye’s transformation into an innovation and productivity-driven economy.
The declaration also had some ideas on seeing opportunities in challenging times and on reducing the gap between the reality and the perception of Türkiye. Stressing the importance of a stable macro environment to provide better predictability and to continue structural reform agenda, the declaration also pointed out the need to prioritize strategic sectors such as information and communications technology and to make more efficient use of communication channels with the international business community.
The IAC was founded in 2004 with the participation of senior executives from prominent multinational companies. Attendees at the 9th IAC meeting included top executives of 20 multinational companies such as the World Bank Group, Alstom, Bank of China, Sberbank, Qatar First Bank, BP, Burgan Bank, Microsoft, Renault, United Technologies Corporation, and Vodafone. These companies came from 14 countries, operate in 10 different sectors, account for a total turnover of around USD 700 billion, and employ 1.5 million people.