|
The Seventh TAF
The Turkish Minister of Finance H.E. Mehmet Simsek, representing HE Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, inaugurated the 7th Turkish-Arab Economic Forum held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Istanbul. This event was attended by more than 600 participants including at the forefront four Arab Finance Ministers: Minister of Finance in Qatar H.E. Yousef Hussein Kamal, Minister of Finance in Tunisia H.E. Houcine Dimassi, Minister of Finance in Yemen H.E. Sakhar Al-Wajeh and Minister of Finance in Iraq Dr. Rafi El-Essawi.
High-profile audience
Opening ceremony was attended by a high-profile audience encompassing ambassadors, diplomats, Arab and Turkish businessmen.
Lebanon was represented by leading private sector corporations including Audi-Saradar Group and Bankmed Group. TAF 2012 opening ceremony also featured the announcement of the Turkish-Arab Financial Markets Forum to be held in the last quarter of this year. Tunisia and Iraq, both represented by their Finance Ministers, requested the forum take place in Tunis and Baghdad.
Social and Cultural Activities
Brief history
When Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal took the initiative and decided in 2005, to venture into Turkey, it certainly anticipated the positive outcomes of such a step, and yet the real outcome was beyond any expectation. Year after year this forum has had an astounding impact on Turkish-Arab relations and has duly become the anticipated event of the region.
TAF in 2005 played the crucial role of enhancing Turkish-Arab relations which were overdue for more than half a century. The last 50 years witnessed mutual estrangement and tension, until the tide began to shift and intentions for developing and improving relations manifested. Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group having accurate insight took a ground-breaking step by organizing the first of its kind Turkish-Arab forum, attracting the highest level of Turkish and Arab participants onto one platform to debate most timely and relevant issues of the region.
Highlights
As an emerging country Turkey still stands to be under the radar for many investors, and yet statistics go to show that to the Arab region Turkey is a model country, while to other countries it represents a success story that didn’t just come to be, but rather its steady reform agenda and a steadfast diligence towards a stable economy coupled with the European Union perspective, that have caught the eye of Arab and other investors. According to the IMF (check below links) Turkey’s 2011 GDP is to hit USD 956.6 billion compared to US$800 Billion in 2010.
Turkey yet seems to hold somewhat of a low profile and currently trades at 13 times earnings compared to other emerging markets such as India which trades at 23 times and Indonesia at 20 times, and thus by attending TAF 2011, current investment opportunities in the Turkish economy are brought forward, bearing mind that investing in turkey means adding a powerful solidly valued country to your investment portfolio.
Jul 2nd, 2012
Jun 29th, 2012
