EBRD board of directors in Türkiye for talks

ISTANBUL

Representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) board of directors are in Türkiye for a visit that will last until Sept. 20 as part of a regular series of consultations in the economies where the bank operates.

The five-day visit will give shareholder representatives the opportunity to meet with senior government officials and members of the business community, as well as representatives of international partners and civil society organizations (CSOs), the development bank said in a statement.

The directors first met with Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek on Sept. 16.

They had a productive meeting where they evaluated the five-year "Türkiye Strategy" and potential areas of work, Şimşek wrote on X.

“We will continue our strong cooperation with the EBRD, which has provided 20.2 billion euros of financing to our country to date,” he added.

Later in the day, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz received the EBRD officials.

"We discussed the Turkish economy, our goals and progress within the scope of the medium-term program we recently announced, our relations with the European Union, and regional and global developments,” said Yılmaz on X.

The directors will visit cities in the country’s southeastern region, which was hit by a series of devastating earthquakes in 2023.

Following the earthquake, the EBRD announced a 1.5 billion euro response package, including credit lines for companies and individuals, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and infrastructure investments in the region.

Over 1 billion euros of this package has already been distributed.