Turkey calls investors to invest in giant projects

LONDON - Anatolia News Agency

Turkey has a number of giant energy and transportation projects as most of them are still under construction. DHA photo

Turkey has invited global investors to take shares in its $250 billion of infrastructure projects, mostly in the transportation and energy fields, set to elevate Turkey’s position as an energy transfer hub in the region.

“Whether the commerce roads go from west to east or east to west, they will pass through Turkey and I invite you to invest in the center of the world,” Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım said during the “Invest in Turkey’s Infrastructure” conference held in London March 28, which was also attended by Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek.

At the conference, where around 200 international investors and fund representatives from around $5 trillion of funds met, Turkey presented its major projects including the third airport and third bridge to be built in Istanbul, railway projects, Marmaray and giant road projects as well as port plans.

$350 billion needed, $250 billion planned

As part of its ambitious target to compensate for a lack of resources and decrease import dependency by boosting its transportation and energy projects, the Turkish government has put most of its focus on these projects.

“Infrastructure is the key for development of economic growth, wealth and competition,” Şimşek said during his speech in London. 

Turkey has invested $75 billion in transportation infrastructure in the past 10 years, but it still needs $350 billion worth of investments, he said. During the conference Turkey presented its projects totaling around $250 billion for the next 10 years.

The third airport project for Istanbul seems to be one of the most prominent as the government is looking to make it the largest in Europe. So far 17 companies have obtained the specifications for the tender to be held in May 3.

The government is also starting to build a third bridge across the Bosphorus, which will cost a total of around $4.5 billion within the Marmara Highway project. Another large project is the Gebze-İzmir highway imvolving building a bridge on İzmit bay.

Turkey also will boost its railways as the state-run railway operator announced this month its plans to invest more than 20 billion Turkish Liras over the next three years, as attempts to open up Turkish railways to private sector involvement speed up.