Chinese investors preparing for massive Turkish investments

ISTANBUL – Anatolia News Agency

Turkish Exporters Assemly, or TİM, President Mehmet Büyükekşi (L) gives a gift to Minister Nihat Ergün at a meeting Tuesday.

Four Chinese companies are poised to make investments in Turkey, Turkish Industry and Trade Minister Nihat Ergün said Tuesday, adding that his country could anticipate similar attention from the East Asian giant in the future.

“Four new companies including leading construction machinery manufacturer Sany are about to make the final decision to make investments in Turkey,” Ergün said Tuesday in Istanbul in an address to the Turkish Exporters Assembly, or TİM.

“Based on our impression from the meetings we’ve had and the information at hand, more Chinese companies will follow these four companies,” he said.

The four initial companies are expected to provide investments in excess $400 million,” Ergün said.

“At the meetings [with Chinese businesspeople], our colleagues noticed that Chinese producers of replacement machinery parts are deeply interested in Turkey,” he said. “Turkish companies have been invited to a large machinery fair in China.”

Turkish companies, half of which do not have a website, according to data provided by the Turkish Statistics Institute, or TurkStat, should focus on information technologies as costs fall in the developing sector, Ergün said.

The ministry plans to organize round-table meetings with the representatives of all sectors in Turkey to improve communication.

Turkey was one of the countries that successfully coped with the global crisis, setting a model for the others, he said.

The Turkish economy, which recorded 11-percent growth in the first half of 2010, lured in foreign direct investments and has become one of the most trusted economies in the globe, the minister said.

The industrial production of the country and the capacity usage rate has almost reached the level it enjoyed before the crisis, he said.

Noting that Turkish exporters could visit over 50 countries with a three-hour flight, Ergün said exporters had key responsibilities in strengthening the economic power of the country.

“Turkey’s exports target for 2011 in its middle-term planning is $127 billion,” Ergün said.

“But I personally believe Turkey will reach the 2008 figures if the global economy does not face a second dip,” he said.