Right time to invest in Turkey: Italian business leader

By Ergin Garip

ISTANBUL (AA) - Now is the right time to invest in Turkey, as the country offers unmissable opportunities, according to the head of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Turkey.

As it started to accelerate again, the Turkish economy has many opportunities for Italian businesspeople, Livio Manzini told Anadolu Agency.

"There was a little hitch in Italian investments in Turkey recently, but we hit the bottom and began to rise," he said.

Bilateral relations in the current context are much more important, and Turkish-Italian trade will rebound quickly in 2020, he predicted.

Turkey and Italy are the two most important economies in the Mediterranean basin, and trade between them rises every year, excluding 2019, he said.

The two countries' bilateral trade is at around $20 billion, but this falls short of their potential, and could reach $40 billion in the next 10 years, Manzini underlined.

-Balanced trade

Italy is the number three export destination for Turkey and the fifth-largest supplier, he said.

"We have balanced trade and trade relations in almost every field," he stressed.

Despite recent economic hurdles, no Italian businesspeople left Turkey, he said.

On inflation in Turkey, he said bringing the rate down from 25% to 10% is a significant success and this falling trend will continue.

The “zero-sum” idea of "If you lose, I win" is a narrow-minded mistake which makes everyone lose, he underlined.

Manzini said: "International trade has always created wealth. When governments understand this, perhaps they will go towards a different policy."

Global trade offers both wide product range and lower prices, but trade wars change the game, he warned.

*Writing by Gokhan Ergocun