Deputy PM in financial networking

SINGAPORE- Anatolia News Agency

Deputy Prime Minister Babacan (L) meets Singaporean Justice and Foreign Minister K. Shanmugan on March 8. AA photo

Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan held talks with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and leading businessmen in Singapore March 9, in the second stop after Hong Kong on his mini Asia tour.

The talks he held in Hong Kong and Singapore were very important in helping the Turkish government’s bid to turn Istanbul into global financial center, said Babacan.

Some of the talks were on making the central and other banks of Turkey, Hong Kong and Singapore work more closely and cooperatively, he said, adding that Hong Kong and Singapore were two of the global trade and finance centers of Asia.

Hong Kong and Singapore were gateways to Asia financially and trade-wise, he said, adding that Turkey was in a region where economic growth was slow, particularly in Europe, whereas a large share of global growth came from Asia.

Istanbul is also a gateway in its region, and bringing these three centers closer is in the interest of all parties, he said.