US investors impressed with Turkey’s post-coup progress, says official

Arda Ermut, the president of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT), pointed to reconciliation with Russia, terror attacks and the July 15 coup attempt, saying the Turkish government did everything on its agenda to improve the investment climate in the country.        

“American investors told us they are very impressed [with] how fast the Turkish economy has picked up after the coup attempt, financial sectors not being negatively affected, the strong resilience of the Turkish people against this insidious attack and how fast they gathered around their elected leader,” he said.  Regarding the terrorist bombing at Istanbul Atatürk Airport in late June, Ermut said Turkish Airlines continued operating just six hours after the attack, adding foreign investors were also pleased with that development.  
     
“All this shows that Turkey is not much affected from shocks. This presents itself as a strong case for the well-being of the investment environment in Turkey,” he said.        

Ermut added now that a reconciliation process between Ankara and Moscow was underway, after a Russian fighter jet was brought down last November, the Turkish economy will undergo a swift recovery since trade relations between the two countries will be improved.        

He noted that the hardest thing for Turkey was to attract new foreign investment known as “green field,” a type of foreign direct investment where a company builds its operations in Turkey from the ground up.