During an official visit to France, Şimşek attended a meeting organized by a Turkish businessmen’s association in the French city of Orleans on Sunday. Stating that Turkey has recently gone through a serious transition and transformation process, he stressed that the country has made important progress in becoming a much more prestigious and effective political and economic actor in the global arena, unlike in the past, when it was unable to harness its a potential. Şimşek said realistic forecasts project that the Turkish economy will become one of the top 10 in the world and top three in Europe within the next 30 to 40 years, noting that Turkey’s young population is also an advantage, providing the country considerable long-term potential.
He underlined, however, there are still a number of reforms that should be implemented. “Once these reforms are carried out, Turkey will grow faster and investments will become more valuable,” said Şimşek, stressing that reforms would continue.
Despite the recent global financial crisis, the government continued to allocate significant amounts of money to education, research and development and infrastructure projects, Şimşek stated, drawing attention to the need to increase the country’s competitive power in the global market. The Turkish market has become more competitive thanks to privatization, and foreign capital has flowed into the country, he stated. The minister listed increasing competition in the domestic market and enhancing Turkey’s competitive power in global markets as the government’s two main priorities, adding that Turkey has caught up with Europe in many areas thanks to the numerous reforms it has implemented.
