ISTANBUL - Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) Executive Board Chairman Omer Sabanci has remarked that it is high time to place Turkey on the list of regions where investment may be made.
TUSIAD International held a round table discussion with its Israeli counterpart Israel Industrialists Association (MAI) in Istanbul on Thursday.
In the meeting organized by Israel's Consulate General in Istanbul, Sabanci indicated that Turkey has made some impressive development in the business sector in the past three years.
Sabanci stressed that there has been some very important macroeconomic developments in Turkey in the recent past. ''The picture is not complete yet. We must have more microeconomic reforms to make the Turkish industry more competitive.''
Sabanci commented that the new regulations to improve the atmosphere for investments and make establishing new businesses easier greatly contributed to the Turkish economy. ''By turning our face towards the European Union, the Turkish market would function as a magnet attracting foreign investment.''
TUSIAD International's Aldo Kaslowski stressed that Turkey and Israel have close ties.
''The trade volume between Turkey and Israel has risen to 2 billion U.S. dollars from an annual 200 million U.S. dollars 10 years ago. The free trade agreement signed in 1997 greatly contributed to commercial ties,'' mentioned Kaslowski.
According to Kaslowski, there is a very good potential of business in the areas of tourism, construction, information technologies. ''We can have joint investments in third countries.''
Meanwhile, MAI Executive Board Chairman Sharaga Brosh has indicated that commercial ties between Turkey and Israel have high prominence. ''The Israeli economy is mainly based on exports. 50 percent of Israel's exports constitute high tech goods.''
Brosh expressed that Israel imports goods worth 1.1 billion U.S. dollars from Turkey per year. ''Most of our imports include jewelry, textile products and transportation vehicles.''
Brosh mentioned that joint ventures could be formed between Turkish and Israeli firms in the areas of telecommunication, information technologies, software, medical equipment and homeland security. ''Such joint ventures could be very fruitful,'' he added.