Seminar Speech of H.E. K¨¹rşad T¨¹zmen
¡°11th China International Fair for Investment & Trade-CIFIT¡±
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is indeed a great honor for me to address such an esteemed audience as one of the keynote speakers in the ¡°International Investment Forum¡± organized during the ¡°11th China International Fair for Investment & Trade-CIFIT¡±.
It is obvious that over the years, the CIFIT has become an important platform to promote foreign investments in China and to guide Chinese enterprises for investing overseas.
The CIFIT also has served as an important platform connecting China with other countries for enhanced cooperation and common development.
In this context, I feel confident that the CIFIT will pave the way for increased and sustainable investment and trade relations between Turkey and China as well.
Excellencies,
As you may appreciate, international direct investment flows have tripled in the last ten years reaching 1.2 trillion dollars in 2006. Besides, the international capital stock is now twice larger than the size of the global GDP.
Indeed, private international capital flows, particularly foreign direct investments, along with international financial stability, have become vital complements to national and international development efforts, and thereby for a consistent global development.
Investment is a key to sustainable growth and poverty reduction, especially for developing countries. In other words, harnessing the benefits of investment is essential to national prosperity and stability.
Within this context, constituting an exemplary case for benefiting from investment flows, China has become one of the world¡¯s leading destinations for FDI since the Chinese Government successfully opted to reform the economy and open it to foreign trade and investment.
China, with this policy, not only served to sustain national growth and increase the welfare of its nation, but also helped for the formation of a harmonious development in the world economy.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Now, with your permission, I would like to make a few comments on the recent developments in the Turkish economy and foreign investment policy of the Turkish Government.
As you may recall, strong and prudent economic policies accompanied by structural reforms have brought a new outlook to the Turkish economy.
In other words, the outstanding growth performance together with strong disinflation carried the economic reforms to a new frontier.
A strong external anchor like the initiation of the accession talks with the European Union (EU) also contributed to the consolidation of this progress.
To be more specific, the average real GDP growth rate of 2.4 percent in the 1992-2001 period reached to 7.5 percent during the 2002-2006 period.
In 2006, GNP increased by 6 percent reaching 400 billion dollars while per capita income has risen to approximately 5,500 dollars.
With these figures, Turkey has become the 17th largest economy in the world and the fastest growing economy among the OECD and the EU countries.
Economic growth in 2007 is estimated to be 5 percent and the indicators point out that this official estimate for the whole year seems well within reach.
This vigorous pace of economic growth has been mainly driven by private sector investments supported by high export performance.
That is to say, foreign trade has become an important determinant in the Turkish economy.
Following the transformation of Turkey¡¯s economic and trade policies in the early 1980¡¯s, our foreign trade has continuously expanded under liberal trade policies over the years, reaching a volume of 220 billion dollars in 2006.
Turkey¡¯s total exports and total foreign trade volume are expected to surpass 100 billion and 250 billion dollars respectively by the end of this year, making Turkey one of the leading actors in global trade.
Distinguished Guests,
Turkish Government continues to prioritize maintaining economic stability and investor confidence while carrying out economic and social reform programs.
The record high levels of foreign direct investment inflows over the last four years are the most concrete indicators that Turkey is becoming a favorable investment alternative for global investors.
20.2 billion dollar foreign direct investment inflows and 8.1 billion dollar privatization revenue in 2006 are the signs of positive trend in Turkey¡¯s promising expectations.
On the other hand, the stable and confident environment supported by structural reforms increases the reliance of both national and international investors on the Turkish economy and supports private sector-based economic progress.
The contribution of the private investments on recent growth potential is impressive. Out of 7.3 percent average economic growth for 2003-2006 period, 4.4 percent was the result of the private sector investments.
This improvement is undoubtedly a signal of the rising efficiency of the Turkish market economy, and significant in terms of the
sustainability of growth performance.
It is evident that these achievements in macroeconomic environment become more meaningful with considerable progress made in the creation of a more investor-friendly environment.
With this understanding, the Turkish Government is determined to continue improving the investment climate in Turkey by attaching special importance and precedence;
to continue privatization and deregulation to improve competition,
to improve education and training to better ensure the needs of the economy,
to increase R&D, innovation and technology adoption and use of quality standards,
to improve infrastructure with a focus on logistics, transport and custom processing, further liberalization of the energy sector and better access to and use of information and communication technology,
to ease the licensing requirements and R&D approval processes,
to continue the reforms on the social security system and tax system,
to deepen financial market development,
to improve investment promotion and communication activities,
to continue harmonizing standards and regulations with the EU.
As you may appreciate, improvements of investment promotion and communication activities are of the great importance in attracting FDI.
In this context, the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey was established in July 2006 to fulfill the corporate capacity needed for effective promotion and communication of the investment opportunities in Turkey.
Additionally, in May 2006, the ¡°Investment Portal of Turkey - (Invest in Turkey)¡± was set up to provide both national and international investors with up-to-date information on investment environment in Turkey.
With these initiatives, FDI for this year is expected to be almost as high as last year, driven by ongoing merger and acquisition activities in the banking and other sectors and also by investment across several sectors including communications, energy,
manufacturing, and real estate.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Please allow me to say a few words on the current situation of commercial and economic relations between Turkey and China.
First, we are happy to witness that there exists a strong dialogue between the two countries, reflecting the will and desire to
further enhance and promote the overall relations.
On this well-grounded base, trade and economic relations between our countries have displayed considerable improvements during the last five years.
Within this trend, our trade volume reached to the historical amount of 10.3 billion dollars in 2006.
We are ready to increase the trade volume to higher figures reflecting the real potential of the Turkish and Chinese economies.
Besides improving commercial relations, accelerating the bilateral economic cooperation should be the main target of our countries.
Therefore, the Turkish Government decided to implement a ¡°Multi-Dimensional Trade and Economic Policy¡± towards China with a view to promoting overall economic relations.
We are happy to observe that the Chinese Government applies the same policy for its relations with Turkey.
That being the case, the Turkish and Chinese authorities have been working in close cooperation and coordination to enhance bilateral investment relations including direct as well as portfolio investments.
It is my conviction that participation of Turkey to the ¡°11th China International Fair for Investment and Trade-CIFIT¡± as a ¡°Focus Country¡± and activities to be realized hereby will contribute to the efforts of promoting investment relations between our countries.
Before concluding, I would like to reiterate, once again, the pleasure of being in China and convey my sincere thanks for the excellent organization of CIFIT which serves as a bridge for promoting international investment and bringing a harmonious world as truly indicated in theme of this year¡¯s ¡°International Investment Forum¡±.
Thank you very much.
| 
