ANKARA - The government has no plans to call early elections, Turkish State Minister Ali Babacan said on Monday.
Holding a press conference at the Treasury Undersecretariat in Ankara, Babacan said, ``there is no reason next year`s elections will cause a deviation from the (economic) program.``
Pointing out that one of the recent indicators of Turkey`s new face is international direct investments, Babacan recalled that direct foreign capital inflow reached a historic peak in 2005. ``They were up 3.5-folds and reached 9.7 billion USD,`` he said.
Babacan noted that determined macro-economic policies, high performance and stability in Turkey have changed international investors` perspective on Turkey.
``Today, Turkey is not a country with only a high economic potential, but a country which is trusted and in which investments should be made,`` he stressed.
The direct foreign investments law, enacted in 2003, had an important role in increasing interest of international investors in Turkey, he underlined.
According to Babacan, 1.9 of 9.7 billion USD of foreign capital was invested in immovable properties, while 1.5 billion in privatization bids.
Babacan said that the amount of foreign capital that has flown in Turkey in the first three months of this year is 1 billion USD. ``And, this amount does not include foreign capital to inflow Turkey through privatization of Telsim and Turk Telekom,`` he noted.
Enumerating USA, British Virgin Islands, Lebanon, Belgium and Italy as the countries which invested the most in Turkey in 2005, Babacan said, ``the amount of investments made by these countries was 6.7 billion USD, and this constitutes 70 percent of overall foreign investments in 2005.``
Babacan said that the number of foreign companies established in Turkey in 2005 was 9,684, and added that foreigners were mostly interested in industries such as services, wholesale and retail, immovable properties, manufacturing, textile, chemicals and food.
On the other hand, Babacan announced that the Investment Advisory Council will convene in Istanbul on June 29th.