Turkey and UK have ‘huge potential’ in finance

ISTANBUL-Anadolu Agency

DHA photo

Britain’s ambassador to Turkey has praised the economic ties between his country and Ankara, saying the U.K. “has a lot to offer to Turkey in terms of partnership.”

Richard Moore was speaking during a two-day economic conference that gathered experts and academics from the banking and insurance sectors in Istanbul on Feb. 18.        

 “I think there is a huge potential for partnership around Islamic finance, participation banking and insurance where the U.K. and London is the leader in the Western world developing production,” he said.        

“At the center of that there is a real commitment on the U.K.’s part to support Turkey’s ambition to turn Istanbul an international financial center.”  

“The financial sector, particularly the banking sector, has really proved its worth, I think, in recent years,” he said.  

“You [Turkey] went through very difficult times in the 1990s and you reformed your banking system at the time so when we came to the big crisis in 2008, you did remarkably well,” he added. 

Moore stated that the Istanbul stock exchange and the country’s banking sector have “made important progress in insurance and pension sector.”  

“Those sectors are a little undercooked and there is still plenty of room for growth and developments in those areas,” he added.