Business leader: "Now is the best time to invest in Greece"

Now is the best time for Turkish investors to invest in Greece to turn risks in its debt-ridden neighbor into an opportunity, according to Selim Egeli, head of the Foreign Economic Relations Board's (DEİK) Turkish-Greek Business Council. Some Turkish businesspeople have shut down their clothing businesses in Greece, he acknowledged, but they may return to Greece and make fresh investments if they see the austerity measures demanded by the country's lenders, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund implemented without any major or violent popular opposition. "The ready-to-wear clothing businessmen's shops weren't strategically located," he said in an interview. "These were investments made without properly researching [market conditions in] Greece. Their businesses must have gone badly, so they pulled out. But on the other hand, Turkish investors' food businesses are doing well because they are all in the right locations." The weeks to come will play a decisive role in Greece's future as it tries to implement new austerity measures, he said. "I think now is the best time to take a risk here and invest in Greece," he urged. "I think Turkish investors can turn risk into an opportunity if they make the right choices."