Minister invites Nokia to invest in Turkey

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Minister Ergün (R) talks to Nokia Vice President Aho on investment opportunities. AA photo

Science, Industry and Technology Minister Nihat Ergün has invited Nokia to invest in Turkey’s Fatih project, a nationwide plan to replace traditional blackboards and textbooks in public school classrooms with electronic boards and tablet PCs over the next four years.

“The Fatih project has a large market potential; a firm could use it as an opportunity to present its potential to the global giants [in the technology industry],” Ergün said yesterday at a meeting with Tapani Aho, the former Finnish prime minister and current vice president of Nokia. He added that the Fatih project was a good opportunity for Nokia at a time when the cell phone giant is trying to bolster its competitiveness against Microsoft and Google. The project tender will be opened in one or two months, he revealed.

Aho said the purpose of his visit was to discuss cooperation opportunities. Turkey, at a crossroads in the world with its large population of young people, is an important market, he added.