Portugal has lot to learn from Turkey: PM

ANKARA - Anatoila News Agency

Turkish PM Erdoğan. DHA Photo

Portugal has a lot to learn from Turkey’s experiences in economic crises, the visiting Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said in Ankara yesterday.

“Portugal has backed away from the edge of a cliff now and there are a lot of lessons to learn from Turkey’s previous experiences,” Coelho said before meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül, emphasizing the importance of steps taken from this point on and noting the similarities between the recent crisis in Portugal and the 2001 economic crisis in Turkey.

Clean slate

Speaking at the Turkish-Portuguese Business Forum, Coelho said they want to renew relations between the two countries with a clean slate and reiterated their support for Turkey’s EU membership.

Coelho said trade relations between the two countries are not at the desired level and invited Turkish businessmen to invest in Portugal by pointing out the recent rehabilitation of the investment climate and regulations, from protective policies to a more competitive market economy.