Delivering a speech at the Regional Development and Governance Symposium, jointly organized by the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) and Middle East Technical University’s (ODTÜ) social policy department yesterday, Yılmaz noted that Turkey should achieve a rapid growth rate and assure sustainable growth while ensuring that the distribution of growth in different regions and segments of society will be equal.
Yılmaz stated that the process of development cannot be completed solely with growth but should also take into account social and environmental dimensions. Otherwise, he added, the reflection of growth on social welfare will be limited. “Our primary goals are to raise the quality of life and boost social welfare. In order to achieve these goals we should create policies to pursue. We should implement these policies at both the national and local levels.”
Regarding regional policies, there is a traditional mindset that there are large inequalities between the regions of Turkey, and we should close this gap, which is actually accurate, the minister said, adding, however, that the new concept of “regional competitiveness” has also started to gain importance. The power of competitiveness should be increased in the country as a whole, Yılmaz said, adding that this can only be achieved by mobilizing local dynamics.
The minister went on to call for the creation of a platform to coordinate participation at the national and regional level, noting that communication is key to effective governance.
Behind all of the longstanding problems of Turkey lies either a communication failure or an institutional conflict, he asserted. Yılmaz, stressing that this situation should be resolved, continued by saying: “Turkey is entering a period of rapid growth. It will be a bright era in both the middle and long term. In order to best benefit from this growth, we should focus on resolving the longstanding problems of the country by making use of more communication.”
World Bank Turkey Director Ulrich Zachau, speaking at the symposium, noted that Turkey has large regional discrepancies and the country is exerting significant efforts to overcome this situation. Zachau expressed approval of projects currently under way in the southeastern Anatolia region.
