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Europe exhausted by Turkey’s EU bid, Finance Minister Şimşek says
“If the EU felt ready, we would have opened all the negotiation chapters,” he said, adding that Europe is lacking leadership and vision.
Şimşek was a keynote speaker yesterday at a conference on “Investing in Emerging and Developing Markets” at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London. Europe’s sluggishness in its relations with Turkey is not the main point, the minister claimed in his opening remarks, and went on to say that no matter what Europe thinks or does, “Turkey is experiencing its own transformation process.”
Recalling a recent study by the US investment bank Goldman Sachs, the minister said the picture of emerging markets in particular will have gone through dramatic changes by 2050.
Currently the 17th largest economy in the world in terms of the size of its gross domestic product (GDP), Turkey will be among the top 10 by 2050, he said and labeled the assumptions stated in the study as “quite plausible arguments.”
The growth rates in emerging markets are relatively high and their risks are comparatively far lower than in developed markets, Şimşek claimed, pointing out that the capital flows in international markets are unsurprisingly heading towards these markets.
Most of these emerging markets, which include Turkey, have attained price stability over the past couple of years and have at present large foreign currency reserves that accumulated after many crises, he argued.
He continued his comparison between emerging and developed markets saying the first have better current account positions and less budget deficits, whereas the latter are suffering from increasing public debt. Turkey, for instance, has 20 million students in primary and high school, which is a number larger than the total populations of several European countries, he mentioned, highlighting one of Turkey’s advantages. Şimşek said that such data clearly display Turkey’s potential for growth, something that may also be seen in numerous other emerging countries.
He said the countries that succeeded in providing a better environment for competitiveness had removed the barriers to doing business freely, developed property rights and ensured the rule of law with a proper legal system and that they will always be in a much better position than countries that have failed in these areas.
The Chatham House conference also hosted speakers from around the world including Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali, Nigerian Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Colombian Central Bank Governor Jose Dario Uribe Escobar and Indian Central Bank Chairman and Managing Director S. Sridhar.
On Friday the minister will meet with representatives of various investment organizations in London and talk about the latest developments in the Turkish economy. He will be interviewed by the BBC and will appear on the TV program “HARDtalk” at the weekend. Şimşek will return to Turkey on July 4.
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