Turkey open to further investments from Saudi Arabia, says ŞimŞek

Saudis are now investing $15 billion in Turkey, said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek, adding that they are seeking to double this amount in the near future. The major investment sectors are power, telecommunications and real estate, with the former adding up to $6 billion investment. They are willing and ready to enhance and develop these investments, he noted.

According to the deputy prime minister, they consider joining the European Union a positive step but it will not make a difference in their development plan if the joining did not take place. “We are working on enhancing the rights in Turkey, and we opt to be the second strongest economy in Europe within the coming years particularly that we have a diversified economy.”

Şimşek called on Saudi investors to approach Turkey instead of investing in Western countries. This, he said, will allow Turkey and Saudi Arabia to “grow together.”

Asked if they will participate in the housing projects in Saudi Arabia, he said that they prefer to make agreements on government level to apply risk management. He added that if such an agreement is met, then they can provide up to 800,000 housing unites to Saudi Arabia within 10 years.

Addressing a press conference at Jeddah Economic Forum on Wednesday, regarding their vision toward the region, he said “we were ignored previously in the region, but now we are working on enhancing our shared values, history, religion and culture. There is pain in our region and we have clear policies that aim at ensuring stability in the region, part of which is not to intervene in the affairs of our neighboring countries.”

Turkish Minister of Transportation Binali Yildirim said that they have finalized 198 projects in their country within 13 years with a total value of $198 billion. He added that they are open to investments from Saudi Arabia and ready to share their experiences and ease all regulations to achieve this partnership.