Turkey, bank have common visions

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

This year’s EBRD meeting will witness many firsts, Turkish PM Erdoğan says. AA photo

The mission of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has witnessed a transformation over the nearly quarter-century period of its activities, due to regional and global changes.

Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region (SEMED) countries were included in the region of activities, after a decision made in 2011, with Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan joining the EBRD region. Kosovo also became a member in 2012.

Turkey and the large geography in which the EBRD is active has historic moral and cultural ties.

Turkey, which attaches great importance to the improvement of welfare in this large region through the development of mutual economic ties, has supported the expansion of the EBRD region from the beginning.

The EBRD will carry its experience from Eastern European and Central Asian countries to those countries where it has started to be active. The existence of the EBRD in these countries will undoubtedly boost the private sector and increase international capital interest in the region, supporting development in these countries.

The 22nd EBRD annual meeting in Istanbul carries special importance in many senses.

Kosovo, a newly founded country that is strengthening its existence in international platforms, will attend the EBRD annual meetings as a full member for the first time this year. The Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries will also attend the EBRD meetings as loan users for the first time this year.

The bank’s shareholders will for the first time discuss in Turkey how these milestone developments will be reflected on EBRD activities. Carrying such discussions in Turkey, a country that builds bridges between civilizations, carries special meanings.

I will meet with the prime ministers and top level officials of Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries at a special breakfast, also to be joined by EBRD Chairman Sir Suma Chakrabarti. We will discuss both the possible contributions of the EBRD to the countries in the region and our experiences of economic transformation since 2002.

We believe that the meetings will offer the bank the opportunity to recognize its new field of activity better, and also give a chance to the countries of the region to share the real needs of their countries with the bank in a better way.

We hope the new fields of cooperation will be developed at the meetings, paving the way for new economic activities in our region.

The EBRD has a special place among the international development banks, with its special emphasis on transparency, principles of good governance and democracy. These principles are the ones that we have been defending in all platforms and have been implementing in our country, In these terms, the vision of the bank and Turkey are parallel.