Speaking to reporters in Singapore following a meeting with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and CEOs of large companies in the country on Friday, Babacan emphasized the importance of talks with Singapore and Hong Kong to enable these countries to work closely to establish İstanbul as an IFC. He also said that as a result of the meetings, discussions were held with officials from central banks of the three countries and that other banks have indicated that they will cooperate in helping İstanbul to become an international financial hub.
“Both Hong Kong and Singapore are the gates to Asia in terms of trade and finance, and a major portion of global growth is coming from Asia now. With İstanbul being the gate to Turkey’s region, bringing these gates closer to each other is in the interest of all sides,” Babacan said, noting that investment coming from Singapore has risen in Turkey. In 2011, Turkey’s exports to Singapore totaled $840 million, while imported goods from the country amounted to $353.5 million. The minister also met with NGOs and high-ranking officials from other organizations during his trip. He mentioned that Singapore has a small number of embassies around the world since it is a small country but that Singapore has an embassy in Ankara, which shows the importance it places on Turkey.
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Source : todayszaman.com
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