Istanbul Is Recovering Quickly After Bomb Attacks As New York Did After September 11

WASHINGTON - Alan Larson, the U.S. Undersecretary of State Department for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, said on Wednesday that Istanbul was recovering quickly after the bomb attacks staged last month as New York did after September 11th terrorist attacks.
Larson and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal held a press conference after the Turkish-U.S. Economic Partnership Commission meeting.
Alan Larson said that he did not believe that terrorist attacks would affect investors in Turkey.
Larson said that common approach of Turkey and the United States was to challenge and defeat international terrorism.
According to his personal experiences, investors thought that the world was an uncertain and dangerous place, Larson noted.
Larson stated that Istanbul was recovering fast after the bomb attacks as New York City did after the September 11th terrorist attacks.
Expressing belief that Turkey could become one of the countries where 10 billion U.S. dollars of investments were made, Larson said that it could not be achieved at one night, but could be achieved in a short time.
Larson evaluated Turkey's economic reform program as ''a story of extraordinary success.''
Praising significant decrease in inflation, the growth rate, and non-interest budgetary surplus, Larson said that there were many reasons to be pleased with those results.
Larson stated that he and Ziyal took up the following economic reform stage and structural reforms.
Economy could use private sector as a means for giant leap forward for economic growth, Larson said.
Larson pointed out that both governments believed that private investments had key role in Turkey's success.
Although there were some differences in trade between the two countries, Larson said that concerned authorities were working together for practical solutions.
Larson pointed out that there was also ''strategic partnership'' between Turkey and the United States in energy.
Stressing that Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline was important for Turkey and the United States, Larson said that this project was still supported.
Larson noted that Turkey had an important potential in Iraq's reconstruction as Iraq's border neighbor.
Stating that the United States attached importance for flow of foreign investments in Turkey, Larson said that representatives of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a U.S. corporation encouraging U.S. investments in overseas countries, and Eximbank also participated in the Turkish-U.S. Economic Partnership Commission meeting.
Larson said that they were trying to encourage investments in Turkey and had projects worth of 1.6 billion U.S. dollars and additional global investment projects.
Qualified industrial zones could not be taken up in details in the meeting due to limited time, Larson stated.
Larson said that two countries wanted to record progress in this issue, adding that they would discuss how they could record that progress.
(BRC-AÖ) 03.12.2003