ISTANBUL - Foreign Economic Affairs Council (DEIK) Turkish-Eurasian Business Councils Chairman Tugrul Erkin said on Thursday that he was pleased to hear that Turkish-Telecom and another distinguished company was interested in privatization of Kyrgyz Telecom.
Speaking in the meeting held by Turkish-Kyrgyz Business Council, Erkin said that Turkey's export to Eurasian countries was 14 billion dollars and its imports from the region was 27 billion dollars in the period between 1997-2002. The share of Eurasia in Turkey's trade volume was 9 percent, he said.
Erkin noted that the investment amount of Turkish firms in the whole Eurasian region including Russia was around 6 billion dollars.
Noting that the Kyrgyz government implemented the most liberal and the most resolved policies in Central Asia to re-build the macroeconomic stability and reconstruction, Erkin said that the continuation of the studies aiming to improve the investment atmosphere to attract foreign investors to the country was important.
Erkin stated that they closely followed up the privatization programmes in Kyrgyzstan, adding that ''we are closely interested in the sale of state shares of ten big and 131 medium scale industrial enterprises and 126 other tourism installations, which are within the scope of privatization programme in Kyrgyzstan.''
OZGUR: TRADE VOLUME BETWEEN TURKEY AND KYRGYZSTAN DOESN'T REFLECT REAL POTENTIAL
Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) Turkish-Kyrgyz Business Council Chairman Cem Ozgur said on Thursday that exports from Turkey to Kyrgyzstan had been 23.7 million U.S. dollars and imports to Turkey from Kyrgyzstan had been 15.7 million U.S. dollars in 2002, which was beyond reflecting the real potential.
Speaking at a meeting hosted by the Turkish-Kyrgyz Business Council for Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev of Kyrgyzstan and accompanying delegation in Istanbul, Ozgur said that total investments made in Kyrgyzstan by Turkish companies was 350 million U.S. dollars as of 2002, and those investments covered fields like hotel management, foodstuffs and beverage production, banking, furniture, tea packaging, plastics, education and construction equipment production.
Stressing that Turkey was the fourth biggest foreign investor in Kyrgyzstan after Canada, the United States and Britain, Ozgur said, ''Turkish companies carry out important business in Kyrgyzstan. Thirteen Turkish companies have so far finalized eighteen projects worth of 329.1 million U.S. dollars. Among these, there were airport, factories, hotels and motorway rehabilitation projects.''
Stressing that system change in Kyrgyzstan and defects in the regulations remaining from the Soviet Union era caused serious problems in exportation from Turkey to Kyrgyzstan and investments by Turkish companies, Ozgur said that they were appreciated by the Kyrgyz government's recent initiatives to create a more attractive environment for foreign capital.
(MS-AÖ) 15.05.2003