Minister to Swiss investors: Come and enjoy Turkey’s energy opportunities

“I am sure we can arrange investments with Swiss firms,” he added.

Speaking at the 5th Switzerland-Turkey Economic Forum, which convened to discuss the issue of “renewable energy resources, productivity in energy and opportunities,” in İstanbul on Thursday, Yıldız said there is virtually no single country with which Turkey isn’t cooperating on energy. Turkey’s projects are aiming at finding solutions and contributing positively to energy supply security for both Turkey’s own needs and for Europe, he asserted. “I have to say with confidence that developing similar projects is quite possible with Switzerland, too,” the minister added.

He gave examples from key investment projections in the energy field. For instance, Turkey is considering building wind energy power plants to supply 13,000 megawatts (MW) by 2013 and another 7,000 MW by 2020.

“Turkey has a lot to do in both energy savings and clean energy resources by 2020. The current statistics in hydroelectricity, for example, demonstrate that only 18 percent of the potential is being utilized. This is definitely not adequate for us, since we are planning to meet at least 30 percent of our total energy demand from renewable resources by 2030. This is even greater than the average in Europe,” he emphasized.

Expressing satisfaction with the recent improvement in commercial relations between the two nations, Yıldız reiterated his desire to see more Swiss companies investing in Turkey.

Switzerland’s Minister of Environment, Transportation, Energy and Telecommunications Moritz Leuenberger also delivered a speech at the event. “We are at the dawn of a new era today. As a result of this new period, the economies will be able to survive without oil,” he said.

Leuenberger went on: “We have to leave suitable climate, water and environment for the next generations. To hand down a good future for the coming generations, we have to adopt a sustainable and consistent behavior. We still behold today the consequences of unsustainable behavior in the past. Today, for instance, we see the adverse outcomes of climatic problems.”

Underlining that the main task for the governments of the world is to curb global warming, the guest minister applauded Turkey’s signing of the Kyoto Protocol, which he called a courageous step. “This step will be an example for those countries whose carbon emissions are growing rapidly in parallel with the growth of their economies,” he noted. There are numerous common properties in the energy policies of Turkey and Switzerland, he asserted, listing energy supply security, hydroelectricity energy potential and energy trade as examples.

Swiss Ambassador to Turkey Raimund Kunz, on the other hand, said Turkey was at the top of countries promising a bright future ahead. He noted that further cooperation between the two countries is quite a possibility. “Looking at the appetite and dexterity of Turkish businessmen in undertaking risks and at the level of development of its infrastructure, we can easily conclude that the Turkish economy is a very dynamic one. From this point of view, it is manifestly clear that Turkey’s necessities for more energy will continue increasing steadily. Its search for alternative energy resources and investments in this field are quite significant in this sense,” Kunz said.

Trade volume between the two countries has almost doubled in the last decade, Kunz further noted, adding that the volume of investments by Swiss businessmen in Turkey had reached $2 billion as of 2008. This figure makes Switzerland the 12th country in terms of the origin of foreign investments in Turkey, Kunz stated.