Investment Promotion Seminar for Turkey commemorating President’s visit to Japan

October 2015

On October 8, welcoming the visit to Japan by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Economic Minister Nihat Zeybekci of Turkey, JETRO held the Investment Promotion Seminar in Tokyo together with the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT) and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG). The seminar attracted 372 attendees from Japanese companies and organizations related to business with the country.

In his opening speech, Minister Zeybekci stated that with an ambitious goal of raising the GDP to two trillion dollars by 2023 when the country will mark the 100th anniversary of its foundation, Turkey, as a member of G20, has expanded the total amount of inward direct investment during the last decade. Given the recently increasing interest in Turkey by Japanese companies in the fields of banking, insurance, telecommunications/satellites as well as infrastructure projects such as highways and bridges, he made clear his intention to respond to this demand through face-to-face interaction in order to promote more investment from Japanese companies into the country.

On behalf of JETRO, President Yasushi Akahoshi also made opening remarks. He emphasized the growing advantages of Turkey in recent years as a destination for investment, such as its expanding consumption market and easy access to markets of surrounding countries. Based on the accelerated entry of Japanese companies into Turkey, he expressed his hope for early conclusion of an economic partnership agreement (EPA) between the two countries and for establishment of win-win relations.

From ISPAT, following the opening address by President Arda Ermut, Coordinator Bekir Polat introduced the investment climate in Turkey, including efforts to improve its environment, incentives related to direct investment and relations between Turkey and Japan.

Presentations were also given from the Japanese side. President Yasuo Asada of BTMU Turkey spoke on economic trends and the investment environment in Turkey. Senior Managing Director Yasuyuki Murahashi of JETRO Istanbul provided a brief explanation about the trend of Japanese companies entering Turkey, overview of business conditions and opportunities in the country.

In his keynote speech, Turkish President Erdogan expressed his expectations for increasing direct investment by Japanese companies into Turkey. ISPAT is an organization established under the initiative of the President during his time in office as Prime Minister. He praised Japan as a country where ISPAT has implemented the most vigorous and successful activities among other countries. He also indicated his wish for the trade volume with Japan, which still remains smaller than with South Korea and other emerging countries, to grow through conclusion of the Turkey-Japan EPA.

He announced the goal of inviting at least 1% (one billion dollars) of the total world investment from Japan, which amounted to approximately 114 billion dollars in 2014.

He also disclosed bold targets toward the 100th anniversary of the country’s establishment in 2023, such as expecting investment of 110 billion dollars in the transportation sector and 130 billion dollars in the energy sector. He concluded his speech with a storm of applause by wishing for more investment and cooperation by Japanese companies in a broad range of growth areas.