Turkey urgently needs ‘Hans and George’s’ money: Businessman

ISTANBUL

The Turkish economy is thirsty for foreign capital. AA Photo

Turkey urgently needs foreign capital to sustain investments, Akfen Holding Chairman Hamdi Akın has said at the Turkish Industry and Business Association’s (TÜSİAD) High Consultation Council meeting, also partially supporting the government’s pledge to restrain the “unchecked” growth of the construction sector.

“It doesn’t work with just our savings anymore; we also need the savings of Hans, George and Jack,” Akın said on Sept. 18, adding that Turkey should also take its share from the cheap money circulating across the globe.

“Turkey should focus and do whatever it takes in political or economic terms,” said Akın, the chairman of Turkey’s largest airport operator company TAV said. He claimed that this would be the way for Turkey to “reach growth levels of 5, 6, or 7 percent.”

He also backed Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan’s recent pledge to bring the ballooning construction sector under control, but warned that it should be remembered that the construction sector is a “locomotive” that feeds several subsectors too.