Britain’s
well-known business and economics newspaper Financial Times has issued a special
report on Turkey, dubbed “Investing in Turkey”, broadly covering the country’s
economic success in the last decade from multiple points of view. The piece
penned by Daniel Dombey, underlines Turkey’s strong points that global investors
take note of, such as the entrepreneurial dynamism, the large domestic market
and the stability that the strong political leadership ensures.
The
article quotes US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s words describing Turkey’s
recent achievements as the “Turkish Miracle”, most obviously seen in the
country’s high GDP growth rates, 10.2 percent in the first half of 2011, and the
tripling of per capita income in less than a decade.
Following up by
comparing Turkey with nations facing financial crisis born out of problems in
the banking sector and public finances, the article resorts to Turkey’s Deputy
Prime Minister Ali Babacan’s remarks; “If you look at Turkey, you see that these
two main problems do not exist here,” as he had told in a recent conference in
Istanbul, highlighting the country’s strongly regulated and well capitalized
banks and its low level of public debt – below 40 percent of gross domestic
product.
Reflecting the growing confidence, the article rightly spots
the “can-do attitude” prevalent throughout the country, as the head of one of
the country’s leading business organizations, Umit Boyner of the Turkish
Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) describes as the key
competitive advantage: the confidence factor.
Sizeable acquisitions of
Turkish companies that have recently taken place and the increasing attention
from private equity groups to the country’s successful companies are also
mentioned in the article, which states the reasons for the country’s appeal as
its young population, vibrant domestic market and skill centers in areas such as
the automotive industry, white goods manufacturing and aeronautical components;
its entrepreneurial breed of businesspeople, often from Anatolian cities such as
Konya and Kayseri as well as Istanbul; and its location, with access to markets
in Europe, the Middle East, central Asia and beyond
Report can be downloaded from the following
link
