Reform must to reduce unemployment: Turkish Deputy PM

By Goksel Yildirim and Aysenur Saglam

ISTANBUL (AA) - Reforms are necessary to boost employment rate, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said Wednesday.

Speaking at a capital market congress in Istanbul, Simsek said Turkey was lucky in terms of labor market.

"Our population is young, with the working age population increasing 1.7 percent annually. This is 17 times faster than the European Union average", Simsek said.

He said since 2007, the government had provided jobs for around 940,000 Turkish citizens per year.

"Nonetheless, the unemployment rate stands at 10.6 percent. We have to make reforms to reduce unemployment rate to a single digit and generate more jobs," he added.

Unemployment in Turkey dropped 0.7 points to 10.6 percent in August compared to the same month last year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute earlier on Wednesday.

August's employment rate jumped 1.3 percent year-on-year hitting 48 percent, TurkStat said. The number of employed persons reached 28.82 million, marking an increase of 1.35 million in the eight month of the year.

Simsek also pointed out the necessity of making working conditions more flexible especially in terms of working part-time, and said the government was working towards this goal.

Nine percent of the current force works part-time, he said.

The deputy premier underlined that Turkey had a strong growth performance and continued to provide employment despite the ongoing challenges facing the country.

He said the country offered significant opportunities and would continue to draw more foreign investors.