Caglayan presents plaques to Turkish contractors operating abroad

Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said yesterday that the number of projects undertaken by Turkey’s contracting sector abroad in the first seven months of the year increased to 140 with a total value of $13.5 billion. Speaking at a ceremony to present plaquets to high-level representatives from 33 Turkish companies which were included in a list of world’s largest 225 international contractors, published annually by industry magazine Engineering News Record (ENR), Caglayan said that Turkish contractors have prepared projects mostly to Turkmenistan, Iran, Ethiopia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates during the seven-month period. Caglayan also responded to reporters’ questions on the occasion of a ceremony in Ankara. Touching on details and practice of the new law allowing property sales to foreigners, Caglayan said that the law allowing real estate sales to foreigners do not particularly affect restricted military areas. "The land that the Chief of General Staff office considers necessary to be restricted for military reasons is equal to 1/1000 of Turkey’s geographical surface area," Caglayan added.