Turkey shouldn’t be modest about its strengths, says World Bank’s Turkey director

WASHINGTON - Anadolu Agency

AA Photo

Turkey has a number of advantages that make it attractive for investors, including its young population, high growth potential, and rich entrepreneurial culture, the World Bank’s Turkey Director Martin Raiser has said, stressing that Turkey should not be modest about these strengths.

“Turkey is in a much more advantageous position than its neighbors. A number of Turkey’s characteristics make it very attractive and strong. First of all, it has a very young population and a high growth potential. Its infrastructure is also quite robust, making Turkey one of the top 30 countries in the World Bank’s Logistics Index,” Raiser said, also noting that Turkey has a “very rich entrepreneurial culture and financial sector.”

“Of course, there are other countries that have some of these characteristics, but Turkey should not be modest about its strengths,” he said.

Raiser also praised Turkey’s exporters for their flexibility amid the changing international situation in recent years.

“Turkish exporters focused on Middle Eastern countries to sell their goods a couple of years ago, when the signs of economic slowdown had started in Europe. They are now turning to Europe again following clashes in the Middle East. Turkey is quite lucky that it has such flexible exporters to shift their export markets so quickly in such fluctuating times,” he said, while adding that Turkey needed to focus on more value-added production to increase its exports.

More steps needed to attract FDI

The most crucial point for Turkey is to turn these advantages into economic gains, which is only possible by attracting more direct investment, Raiser added, warning about Turkey’s decreasing direct investment figures.

“Both foreign and local direct investment flows into Turkey have been decreasing for the last six quarters, with the exception of the last quarter of last year. It is possible for Turkey to increase the confidence of direct investors by making immediate structural reforms,” he said.

“It is of great importance for Turkey to realize its structural reform package as soon as possible,” he added, stressing that high domestic demand and cheap liquidity would not be enough to maintain sustainable growth.

The World Bank’s Turkey chief also noted that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s long planned tapering move was expected to create several risks for emerging economies, and the rising dollar might increase the Turkish Lira’s inflation rate.