Press release 11/06/2009
Under the patronage of Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
H.E. Ali Babacan, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister, inaugurates the Fourth Turkish-Arab Economic Forum
The Forum is attended by about 600 eminent Arab and Turkish economic leaders
The Fourth Turkish-Arab Economic Forum, which was organized by Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group in cooperation with the Turkish Ministry of Finance, the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) and the League of Arab States, was inaugurated today in Istanbul. The Forum was attended by more than 600 participants, including Ministers, representatives of Arab and Turkish governmental bodies, business leaders from various Arab and Turkish economic sectors and representatives of economic bodies and associations. An addition to the forum this year was a Saudi delegation formed by more than 60 participants representing major Saudi companies.
Opening ceremony: from the right to the left: Mohamed El Fatah Naciri; Raouf Abou Zaki; Ali Babacan, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister; Rifat Hisarciklioglu and Alpaslan Korkmaz
The opening session brought together many eminent speakers including H.E. Ali Babacan, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State, Mr. Rifat Hisarciklioglu, President of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) and President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, H.E. Mohamed El Fatah Naciri, Director of European Affairs in the League of Arab States, Mr. Alpaslan Korkmaz, President of the Prime Ministry Investment Support & Promotion Agency-ISPAT/Turkey and Mr. Raouf Abou Zaki, General Manager of Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group.
Abou Zaki
Mr. Abou Zaki launched the opening session saying: “This Forum has become the most important annual event in Turkey making it possible to follow-up the development of economic relations and cooperation between Turkey and the Arab world. Holding the Turkish-Arab Economic Forum for the fourth consecutive year is best proof of its importance and relevance. Its continuous success wouldn't have been possible without the Turkish government’s support under the presidency of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the full cooperation of the concerned Ministers and Arab and Turkish private institutions. Allow me here to express my deep appreciation for the primary role played by PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan in this forum. This is of course another expression of the important role played by Turkey and Mr. Erdogan in developing closer ties between Turkey and the Arab world, promoting stability in the Middle East away from all kind of risks and emphasizing the region’s strategic importance in the global economy as source and gateway for energy supplies, a large market and a productive hub that enjoys a wide range of resources and capabilities”.
He also added: "While the indicators reflect the first signs of recovery from the global crisis, the new world economic order which would result from this difficult and slow process will give priority to the development of competitive capabilities, the exploitation preferential advantages and the promotion of productivity, in addition of course to the adoption of new standards of transparency, good governance and control of financial markets. In other words, the success of the upcoming global economy may become more difficult. This new reality requires that Turkey and Arab countries accelerate the building of a strong economic bloc to preserve the interests of all parties in the face of future challenges. Needless to say, the entire region, its geography, resources and peoples form the nucleus of such a bloc. Arab markets and the Turkish market complete each other, particularly since Turkey has common borders with two of the largest countries in the region, namely Syria and Iraq. Turkey also represents an important market for the Arab States and their production of basic industries which are based on the preferential advantages they enjoy in the sector of cheap energy. Turkey is a significant milestone on the road to the huge Asian markets and the East European and Russian markets. The vital Turkish economy, with all its achievements, advantages, institutions and businessmen, is a natural partner for the Arab world in the investment and joint ventures fields”.
Mr. Abour Zaki concluded by saying: “The road ahead is full of promising opportunities and successes but the global environment is marked by many challenges. Therefore, we must accelerate the building of the natural and inevitable economic partnership between Turkey and the Arab world. Let our deliberations in this forum be another step to achieve our goals and promote their sustainability and development in order to form a supportive and helpful framework to realize all our aspirations”.
Alpaslan Korkmaz
Mr. Korkmaz announced during the forum that the Prime Ministry Investment Support & Promotion Agency-ISPAT was able to make a lot of achievements in less than two years and a half in order to promote Turkish-Arab relations. He considered that Turkey’s reputable history includes many fundamental economic features that put Turkey on the world economic map among major global economies. He also added: “Turkish potentials are vast and opportunities are available in all its economic sectors whether in the real estate sector or the financial sector or any other promising sectors. In addition, Turkey has an excellent industrial history that gives it an important position in the economic framework. We are proud of the tremendous achievements that have been made in this field, particularly in complex industries”.
Moreover, Mr. Korkmaz reminded that between 1971 and 2002, Turkey attracted few investments of no more than 17 billion US dollars while these investments reached 70 billion USD in the past few years. He considered that the increase in investment flows proves that the Turkish economic policy supported by PM Erdogan made Turkey a successful investment hub. In addition, “a special agency was established to standardize procedures related to investors who wish to work in Turkey through the “one-stop-shop”. This one-stop-shop helps investors obtain the necessary information on Turkish business sectors and the required official procedures, plus any other information on taxes and financial matters”.
He also added: “We want the investor coming to Turkey to enjoy an easy, quick and integrated experience in our country because time is money in the investment world. Indeed, all investors who approached the Investment Support & Promotion Agency have been able to obtain the necessary information and services to launch their businesses. We want to cut red tape completely but until then, investors can save time and money by benefiting from the services we started providing them with about two years ago. In the past we have been able to make achievements at the level of investment promotion with the Arab private sector which has reflected positively on the Turkish-Arab relations. Today, there are also Turkish investments flowing to Arab countries and achieving good results. Opportunities in the Arab countries are no less significant than those available in Turkey. Kirkmaz concluded by saying: "I reiterate that this forum provides great opportunities for investors, Arabs and Turks alike. It also provides a common ground between Turkey and the Arab States to help us promote socio-economic and political relations among our countries. All of our government agencies are ready to serve our economic aspirations and relations with Arab countries”.
Mohamed El Fatah Naciri
Mr. Naciri then took the floor and said: “The League of Arab States gives paramount importance to this forum and considers that it can strengthen Turkish-Arab cooperation. This forum also promotes Turkish-Arab relations since it attracts the main Arab and Turkish leaders. This forum was a bright idea from H.E Amr Moussa, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States and it was an instant hit upon its organization. The League has also signed recently with Turkey many cooperation agreements, particularly in the interest of developing economic relations. We believe that the forum and economic agreements will help build strategic partnerships and promote cooperation and integration between Turkey and the Arab States in the socio-economic, political and security fields. Indeed, many developments took place recently allowing us to say that relations between our countries are well on their way to be closer and more developed”.
Naciri concluded by emphasizing the importance of themes to be discussed during the forum considering that it’s up to the participants and speakers to provide answers on how best to establish strong and strategic relations between Turkey and the Arab countries, particularly since the region and the whole world is witnessing the negative repercussions of the global economic crisis.
Mr. Rifat Hisarciklioglu
Mr. Hisarciklioglu declared in his speech: “In 2010, we will welcome you in Istanbul, the “capital of culture”, which plays a paramount role based on its glorious history and distinguished economic power. Between 2002 and 2007, we have witnessed an important era of economic development and modernization in Turkey whereas we have been able to achieve significant economic growth and good economic performance. During that period, the Deputy Prime Minister was able to draw attention on the importance of economic growth and development. In the 80s of the last century, we launched the economic development process and strived to improve our relations with the Arab countries and much was also achieved on this level in the past six years. Twenty years ago, we wouldn't have imagined the possibility of holding such a forum and we wouldn't have been able to achieve closer Turkish-Arab ties. However, the efforts made in that field allowed thousands of Arabs to invest in Turkey and thousands of Turks to invest in the Arab countries. It’s also worth mentioning that the last developments coincided with important visits of Arab kings and heads of States into Turkey and visits of Turkish officials into the Arab countries to sign bilateral agreements with important implications to all concerned parties”.
Furthermore, “all Turkish institutions are making every effort to enhance cooperation with Arab countries and strengthen mutual relations bringing them to higher level and linking them to regional and international ties. Today, Turkish politicians participate to the Arab League meetings and our armed forces contribute to the region’s security and stability. Turkish businessmen are well involved in Arab economic development projects and Civil Society Organizations implement several projects in the different Arab countries. We also have in Sudan development projects and our fleet helps maintain the security in the Gulf of Aden. In addition, many airliners have increased direct flights from and into turkey and the Arab countries. All these developments are best proof of our desire to reinforce Turkish-Arab relations”.
“Our economy is growing day after day and our exports achieve significant growth each year making them one of the major exports worldwide. Indeed, the value of our exports exceeds tens of billion USD reaching various destinations around the world. According to the international economic organizations, our exports have one of the best growth rates worldwide. Turkey is today a member of the G20 and plays an important economic and political role, in addition to its valued position in the United Nations agencies. These achievements give concrete expression to the importance of Turkey’s role in today’s world and prove that we enjoy an important regional and international economic power. Let’s not forget also that Turkey is a strategic pathway for oil pipelines. We aspire to play in the future a bigger economic role in the international community and to increase our exports so that their value exceeds 500 billion USD. We will also support and strengthen our companies and host the major multinational firms. As representatives of the Turkish private sector, we are making every effort to promote Turkish-Arab private cooperation. We believe that Turkey, the world investment gateway, will be able to attract Arab private investments but we still have to create a set of favorable conditions to ensure foreign investment prosperity. It’s worth mentioning here that we have today over 17 Turkish-Arab joint councils. On the other hand, we, as Turks, we are striving to promote stability and welfare in the different countries within our region. We believe that this can be achieved through joint economic activities. Therefore, we do not shirk our responsibilities and we support the peace initiative in the Middle East. We are also seeking to strengthen cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian businessmen, a cooperation - that we believe - will contribute to achieving peace. We consider that we cannot have stability in Turkey unless our neighbors enjoy stability in their countries.
Mr. Hisarciklioglu also said: “Despite the global economic crisis, our exports are still growing in the Arab countries. However, all exports and mutual economic relations are just a drop in the sea of relations and exchange we can achieve if we put our mind to it. We have made a lot of efforts and we still have to sign free trade agreements with Arab countries. We succeeded to sign agreements with Tunisia and Syria but we are still in the deliberation phase with other Arab countries, including the Gulf countries and Lebanon”.
Although we are still witnessing positive growth, we have to recognize that the global crisis affected the size of investment and led to a recession period. For instance, few investments from the Gulf area flowed to Turkey recently even though Arab funds can benefit from opportunities available in the various Turkish economic sectors, like the real estate sector, logistics and tourism and services. Let’s not forget that we have also been able to reinforce our relations with Arab countries in North Africa. In this context, we have held a summit of African Heads of State in Istanbul and we have established business councils with African countries, including Arab countries. We also cooperate with the Islamic Development Bank to implement projects in Syria and we share our industrial knowledge and expertise with many Arab parties. In addition, we support Arab SMEs that contribute to economic growth.
Mr. Ali Babacan
Mr. Babacan declared in his speech: “I would like to seize this opportunity to say that Turkish-Arab relations are on the right path with efforts to promote socio-economic development and closer ties between our countries. We have today with Arab countries many agendas that cover not only the economic dimension but also the political dimension, particularly with regards to the peace process in Palestine. That’s why we are working on several levels to achieve our goals.
In 2002, we signed a memorandum of understanding with the League of Arab States and in 2004 we signed Turkish-Arab economic cooperation agreements thus laying the foundations for better relations between our countries. Today we hold regular meetings with Arab countries and every six months we have meetings at the level of Foreign Ministers. We also have an ambassador in the League of Arab States that will open an office here in Istanbul to enhance cooperation between the different parties.
Mr. Babacan added: “In September 2008, we have launched a permanent dialogue mechanism between Turkey, the Arab countries and the GCC countries. In 2007, we signed a multiple cooperation agreements in Jeddah hoping that this new mechanism will pave the way for joint projects in the region. In fact, it wouldn't have been possible in the past to give momentum to the development of economic relations but we made the necessary economic reforms enabling us to attract Arab private investments. Today, we call upon the GCC to encourage investments into Turkey. We wish that deliberations on the free trade agreement between Turkey and the GCC countries make a marked improvement”. Babacan also emphasized “the importance of the role played by Turkey through the Islamic Conference Organization” adding: “we achieved a lot of success in the Islamic Conference Organization and we carried out a number of activities. We believe that the influence of this organization increases day after day on the regional level”.
As for the global economic crisis, he said: "As you know, the global economic crisis has affected a large number of countries around the world in an unprecedented manner. The crisis occurred as a result of an imbalanced credit policy and lack of financial control by the officials in the countries where the crisis started. This crisis is unlike any previous one, accelerated by the absence of efficient control mechanisms. Today, we are facing the repercussions of the crisis worldwide in terms of interest rates, loans, unemployment, recession and other negative impacts. Political leaders around the world should determine the consequences of the crisis and work together to increase confidence in global financial markets. Recently, central banks have intervened to propose solutions but there are increasing concerns of the results of these policies, in particular in developing countries. The G20 leaders decided to deal strongly with this crisis and Turkey is major part of these efforts. Today, the crisis incites us to implement the best economic policies and apply internationally recognized measures. Of course, going back to the normal course of things will take some time.
Award ceremony: from the right to the left: Murad Efi; Mohamed El Fatah Naciri; Raouf Abou Zaki; Mehmet Ali Aydinlar; Emin Sazak; Ali Babacan, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister; Mohammed Hariri, Mehmet Simsek, Minister of Finance; Rifat Hisarciklioglu and Alpaslan Korkmaz
Awards ceremony:
Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group honored many pioneer and eminent economic leaders during the Fourth Turkish-Arab Economic Forum granting them the Life-time Achievement Award including: to Mr. Mohammed Hariri, Chairman and General Manager of BankMed and Saudi Oger, Mr. Emin Sazak, Deputy Chairman and CEO, of Yuksel Construction and Dr. Mehmet Ali Aydinlar, Chairman of Acibadem Healthcare Group. The awards were presented to the honorees by H.E. Ali Babacan, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister, Mr. Rifat Hisarciklioglu, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey and Mr. Raouf Abou Zaki, General Manager of Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group.
