Ali Babacan said he had seen that Turkey was being appreciated in every meeting he attended.
"In the past, they used to ask about Turkey, now they are asking us about the world, Europe and G-20 agenda, thanks to Turkey's increasing influence and activity. I have heard a sentence a lot in my meetings, which is 'Europe and the region are dark, however Turkey is bright spot'," Babacan told a press conference in Washington.
Babacan said most of people he had talks with said that Turkey did not have any serious problems, and Turkey was confident about the future.
Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said every one had to be prepared for possible negative developments, and therefore Turkey was working on scenarios and alternative strategies.
"We will focus on structural reforms after we present our medium-term program to parliament in coming weeks," Babacan said.
Babacan said the world was more negative today when compared to two months ago, and therefore, Turkish government would shape up its initiatives by taking into consideration the new conjuncture.
Structural reforms would include rehabilitation of investment atmosphere, employment, banking and financial systems, Babacan said.
Babacan said Turkey had prepared a legal package to make Istanbul one of the top ten finance centers in the world by 2023, and developed a strategy plan to fight unregistered economy.
The government was also working on some investments that could help cut down current account deficit, and on a new mechanism that would encourage production of some goods in Turkey, Babacan said.
Babacan said everybody was seeing Turkey as a role model for the entire region, i.e. for the Middle East and North Africa.
"Loss of value in currencies of developing countries is not something peculiar to only Turkey. It is a trend in all developing countries, and a situation caused by the new world conjuncture," he said.
Babacan said the Europeans could not overcome those problems for years because it would not be easy to shoulder such a heavy debt burden.
Deputy Prime Minister Babacan said Turkey's rating was upgraded despite such a negative atmosphere in Europe and the world, which he defined as pleasing.
Babacan said Turkey deserved a higher rating, and Turkey's exports to the United States were up 55 percent year-on-year in the first seven moths of 2011.
"This is the first time in nine years that I have seen such a high-level political will in the United States, aiming to make business with Turkey," Babacan said.
Also commenting on Turkish-Israeli relations, Babacan said Turkey had not taken any steps regarding economic issues with Israel, except defense projects. |
Source : en.cumhuriyet.com
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