Novartis picks Turkey as regional base

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Novartis, the Basel-based drug maker, sees Turkey as a base to expand in Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Novartis, the global drug company, is set to build a plant in Turkey in a bid to make it a regional center for Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, a company board member said.

“We are looking at Turkey as a regional base,” Novartis board member Alexandre F. Jetzer-Chung said yesterday at a meeting with Turkish Industry Minister Nihat Ergün. In the past, Egypt had taken some steps to become the health center of North Africa but the recent unrest brought those steps to a halt, he said, adding Turkey might become the health center of North Africa in the future. 

Novartis was a crucial company for Turkey and investments in the medical sector in Turkey are viewed as “strategic investments,” said Ergün, adding the new incentive system that will soon be announced will introduce incentives for the medical sector as well.

“Turkey has become a center of attraction. Investors can appeal to the European, Middle Eastern, Asian and African markets by investing in Turkey. Turkey is a country with political and economic stability.
 
Economic and political stability are a source of confidence for investors. Investors in Turkey have no risks. Novartis and other investors should remember such realities,” Ergün said.