By Dilara Zengin and Sevgi Ceren Gokkoyun
Investor interest in Türkiye has grown compared to last year, placing more emphasis on economic sustainability and rising predictability, Nail Olpak, head of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), told Anadolu.
In New York City this week, Olpak attended the 15th Türkiye Investment Conference, during which senior executives of some twenty-five Fortune 100 companies based in the US participated under the leadership of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Investors with already existing investments expressed their demands and opinions, and even questions they have, showing increased interest compared to last year,” said Olpak after the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Looking back, he said, last year’s meeting at investment bank Goldman Sachs with Trade Minister Omer Bolat and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, as well as the Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan, featured more political questions than investment-related technical ones.
Last year, he said, the content of the government’s Medium-Term Program dominated discussions, as it had been recently announced, while this year, the outcomes so far of the program and the markets were more prominent.
Olpak also said that this year two more tightly focused meetings were held by Citibank, one with the participation of Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, offering insight into Türkiye’s energy policies, and another, in which Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacir met with tech firms.
He said investors showed continued interest in Türkiye’s future adherence to the Medium-Term Program and whether the country can continue to reach its targets after doing so this year.
- Economic predictability as significant incentive for business world
Murat Ozyegin, chair of the Foreign Economic Relations Board’s Türkiye-US Business Council, told Anadolu that the meeting held with President Erdogan and the Cabinet ministers got positive feedback on the Medium-Term Program, with growing investor interest in line with the Turkish economy’s rising predictability via the program.
“I expect the interest to rise as the disinflationary program helps boost the predictability of the Turkish economy,” said Ozyegin, referring to the government’s commitment to bring down inflation, which has scored successes in recent months.
Ozyegin noted that during the meeting they also discussed resolving issues investors face and incentive programs to keep them interested, with the overarching theme being predictability.
“Economic predictability is a significant, in fact, the biggest incentive for the business world, and as we see the points of view from American investors, they, too, see the rising predictability in the Turkish economy,” he added.
*Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul