ANKARA - Turkish Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said on Tuesday that Justice & Development (AK) Party attaches utmost importance to privatization to increase social prosperity and recover competitive milieu in economy.
Unakitan touched on government`s privatization policies during his speech on the draft law on 2008 Central Administration Budget.
Unakitan noted that basic target of privatization policies is to increase productivity as well as competitive power of the country. He added that privatization is a structural reform, and countries cannot increase their development level without completing structural reforms.
Unakitan said that the goal of privatization is to liberate the state from economic activities, adding that economic activities are pursued by private sector thus economy develops with stronger resources and sounder administrative structures.
Unakitan said that during 18-20 year period before AK Party rule, total amount of privatization in Turkey was 8 billion USD. He added that AK Party rule made privatization worth of 40 billion USD.