Minister says ‘invest in Turkey’ to Chinese

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (C) with Chinese Deputy PM Wang Qisan (R) at the Turkey-China Economic Trade Forum in Shanghai China yesterday. AA photo

A lack of investment by Chinese business leaders in Turkey is incomprehensible given the favorable investment conditions, Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan said yesterday during a breakfast with Chinese executives in Shanghai.

By investing in Turkey, countries could conduct half of their exports to EU member states without customs duties, he said.

“In this sense, I cannot understand why Chinese investors do not invest in Turkey,” Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying.

Çaglayan called on Chinese executives to review their decisions and take action, defining Turkey as an ideal investment place thanks to its sound banking and legal systems.

“China is the number-one country in contracting services with 54 out of 325 contracting companies in the world, and Turkey is second with 21 companies,” he said, adding that the two countries were the two fastest-growing economies in the world and that Turkey broke an export record in 2011.

Echoing Çağlayan during the breakfast, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey had not sufficiently benefited from Chinese foreign investments, according to Doğan news agency.

“We announced an incentive package prior to coming here. We strongly support international investments, as well as domestic investments [in Turkey]. We hope our Chinese investor friends will benefit from those incentives.