İn London, PM Erdogan touts Turkish ekonomy to British invertors

Speaking at a meeting of the Turkey-Britain Business Forum in London yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey had managed to weather the global financial crisis with minimal damage, with its financial system having felt almost no impact from the crisis. "While many banks and companies in the US and Europe faced tough times during the crisis, Turkish banks didn't see any difficulties," he said. Stating that Turkey's ties with Britain have picked up in recent years, Erdogan said, "Turkey and Britain engaged in model cooperation at both the regional and global levels, in an example for all of Europe." Stressing that economic and trade cooperation constitutes an important part of Turkey's ties with Britain, Erdogan called on British entrepreneurs to take advantage of Turkey's rapidly developing investment environment and dynamic young population. He further said Turkey is on the way to becoming the shining star of its region. Also speaking at the meeting, British Justice Minister Jack Straw said the Turkish economy proved its resilience during the global economic crisis. "This showed how sound and strong Turkey's financial system and industry are," he added. Stating that Turkish products are in demand in the British market, Straw praised the quality of these products, especially Turkey's white goods (small appliances). State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan told the gathering that half of all refrigerators sold in British market are Turkish-made. Underlining what he called deep economic and trade ties between Turkey and Britain, Caglayan said the good attendance of Turkish and British businesspeople at the meeting showed this. Caglayan also expressed hope that trade between the two countries, which dipped due to the crisis, would resume its upward trend this year in line with global recovery from the crisis.