LIVE in Istanbul: EU will beg Turkey to join says Templeton star

LIVE in Istanbul: EU will beg Turkey to join says Templeton star

by Angus Foote on May 20, 2011 at 11:18

LIVE in Istanbul: EU will beg Turkey to join says Templeton star

ISTANBUL: Joining the EU is irrelevant to Turkey and Europe will eventually beg the Turks to join, says Franklin Templeton frontier markets manager Carlos von Hardenberg.

Working alongside emerging markets veteran Mark Mobius, von Hardenberg is based in Istanbul and responsible for Turkish investments as well as being part of the team responsible for the Templeton Frontier Market fund.

Speaking to Citywire at Franklin Templeton’s investor conference in Istanbul, he said the level of entrepreneurship in Turkey outstrips that seen almost anywhere else.

‘The mindset is astonishing…the Turks are in places such as Russia, the UK and Germany.’

Turkey has a very stable labour market and is becoming an economic powerhouse, says von Hardenberg, making the question of whether or not the country joins the EU in the near future is ‘completely irrelevant’.

‘No-one here cares,’ he says. ‘At some point in the future, Europe will come on its knees and beg them to join.’

Another country where he sees positive development is Nigeria, currently one of the biggest overweights in the Frontier Markets fund.

The Nigerian central bank is putting pressure on the government to get its fiscal house in order, says von Hardenberg. In terms of facing up to its economic challenges, he says, ‘this country is now better organised than many western companies.’

‘A new generation has had enough of 40 years of wasted time. The Nigerian government knows that if they don’t get it right now, this country could fall apart.’

‘But smart money is moving into Nigeria. Companies like Nestlé and Heineken, which is now the largest brewer in Nigeria. I think Nigeria is now in a comparable situation to Korea or Taiwan in the mid-1960s. We will see decades of strong growth – it’s a unique opportunity.’

However von Hardenberg warned that corporate governance remained a problem in some frontier markets. ‘Vietnam remains a big trouble spot – it can take ages to get hold of the data you need.’ He is also avoiding Venezuela because of fears over ownership rights and enforced nationalisations.

via LIVE in Istanbul: EU will beg Turkey to join says Templeton star – Citywire.