More Turkey trade good for Greece, Babacan

ISTANBUL-Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey is the strongest trade partner for Greece in the region, Babacan says. AA photo

More trade and investments with Turkey present the only path for Greece to save its future, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said at a meeting late March 21.

“I think it is very important for our businessmen to invest in Greece. It is really not an easy country for the business community [to do business in]. Therefore, it is better to purchase established facilities, functioning companies. It takes too long to build them from scratch,” he said at the Turkey Meetings organized by daily Türkiye.

The northern neighbors of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, are the poorest countries of the European Union, he said, while noting that other northern neighbors like Macedonia and Albania were unlikely to help Athens develop through bilateral trade.

“Greece has no other option but Turkey. More trade and investment with Turkey is the sole formula to save the future of Greece,” he said.

Security Council has lost legitimacy

The structures of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the U.N. Security Council should be questioned, he also said.

“The U.N. Security Council is an institution which has lost its legitimacy,” he said, adding that it was not acceptable for one country to have veto power in an organization with 193 member countries.

“Especially after all the goings-on in Syria, we think that the structure of the Security Council should be seriously questioned as the management structures of the IMF and the World Bank changes,” he said.

Touching on the Turkish economy, he said the low domestic savings rate should be the main concern for everyone.

“Becoming a consumption society is one of the most important factors of Turkey’s current account deficit. Unfortunately, 45 percent of total households currently spend more than their monthly income, which should be a main concern for everyone and adjusting measures should definitely be taken. We have been doing this gradually for the last year,” he said.

The government supports the Central Bank, he said. “Time will show that the Central Bank was right.”