Turkish economic delegation welcomed in Netherlands in roadshow after failed coup attempt

Accompanying Zeybekci on the visit were Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP Mehmet Muş, Republican People’s Party (CHP) MP Rıza Yalçınkaya, and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) MP Arzu Erdem, as well as members of the country’s business and trade organizations.    

The head of the Industry and Business Confederation of the Netherlands, Hans de Boer, welcomed the delegation and asked for its members to ask their counterparts questions. 

“Turkey’s economic performance is quite amazing and we have high expectations about the Turkish economy. Our bilateral trade and economic ties have amounted to be around $6 billion. Some questions have popped up in our minds about Turkey after the coup attempt. Please tell us what is happening in Turkey,” said de Boer. 

Zeybekci said that Dutch businesspeople already knew Turkey very well, yet the delegation now needed to elaborate further after the July 15 coup attempt. 

“Nothing has changed in Turkey for investors following the failed coup attempt. Our banking, commercial and economic activities continued without any interruption on the first Monday after the coup attempt, mainly on July 18. Our macroeconomic indicators are quite good, but some rating agencies downgraded our records without considering these facts,” he noted. 

“We are here to tell what has happened in Turkey along with the members of the country’s leading nongovernmental business organizations and deputies both from the ruling political party and the opposition parties. All political parties were at the parliament when the coup plotters bombed it late July 15. This is recorded on the world’s democracy history. We now all know that our democracy has been under the protection of our people,” he added. 

Calling Turkey a land of opportunity with a huge potential for foreign investment, Zeybekci said, “For many centuries Turkey has been at the center of trade, regions and cultures. Our country has the same importance in the current period.”        

Trade between the Netherlands and Turkey has tripled over the past decade, and the Netherlands is one of Turkey’s main investors. Many Dutch companies have branches in Turkey doing business in foodstuffs, energy and technology, among others.        

Zeybekci noted that trade and economic ties between Turkey and the Netherlands fell short of their potential, noting that he hoped this could be corrected in the years to come.