ISTANBUL - Greek Efthymiadis Group of Companies and Business Advisory Council for Southeast Europe Chairman Nikos Efthymiadis said on Tuesday that Turkey and Greece should determine common strategies in economic relations and stated that the two countries should launch initiatives to make investment in other countries.
Delivering a speech at a panel entitled, ''Economic Cooperation Perspectives'' organized by summer school of Bilgi University in Istanbul, Efthymiadis said that it was wrong to wait for solution of political problems for development of commercial relations and added that however a comfortable atmosphere in policy would also bring comfort to economy.
Efthymiadis said that Turkey and Greece which targeted close markets needed each other and noted that the two countries should complete each other.
Noting that he did not think that there was a tough competition between the two countries, Efthymiadis said that there was competition, but it would be a healthy competition.
Efthymiadis said that Eastern Europe was a big and developing market for the two countries and stated that Turkey and Greece could produce products for this market and sell them.
Efthymiadis noted that Greek businessmen made around 6 billion U.S. dollars of investment in Balkan countries and stated that they would also make investment in Turkey if bureaucratic procedures preventing them from investing in Turkey were decreased. Efthymiadis added that Turkish government had already taken significant steps to decrease bureaucracy.
Efthymiadis stated that removal of political problems would contribute to investments on coasts of Aegean Sea and further development of economy.
Turkish-Greek Business Council Selim Egeli who touched on political problems between the two countries said that commercial relations were advancing and reaching a place, but then they were blocked since political relations did not reach stability.
Noting that total foreign trade volume of the two countries was annually about 120-130 billion U.S. dollars, Egeli said that trade volume between the two countries was nearly 1 billion U.S. dollars and this figure was very low.
Egeli said that there was need of annually 600-700 billion U.S. dollars of investment to bring infrastructure standards of countries on coast of Black Sea and Balkan countries to the level of the European Union and stated that Turkey and Greece could do it. He added that if cooperation was made and the governments supported it, the two countries could do it.
(EÖ-AÖ) 22.07.2003