Minister confident on local investment Habitat

The investment environment in Turkey has surpassed that in a number of European countries due to improvements in transparency, access to qualified labor and less red tape and time involved in launching businesses, according to the Economy Ministry. The time needed to start a business in Turkey is six days, which is quicker than in such Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) members as Britain, Russia and Greece, while the country is on par with the U.S. in this regard, the ministry said in its economic outlook report for June. The country is ahead of a number of European countries, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Romania and Poland, in terms of access to qualified labor, the report said. Turkey’s finance sector has also become more transparent. The country scored 6.8 points out of a possible 8.0 in a ranking of "transparency criteria in finance sectors," followed by Slovakia at 6.1 points and the Czech Republic at 5.4 points. Turkey’s western neighbor Greece, which is on the brink of financial collapse, has only 4.3 points on this scale. European Union members Romania, Poland, and Bulgaria have 3.3, 4.0, and 4.2 points, respectively. Turkey attracted a total of $15.85 billion in direct international investment last year, posting a 74 percent increase year on year, well above the world average, the report said. Total direct international investments worldwide expanded 17 percent year on year to $1.5 trillion. Turkey became the 23rd-ranked country in terms of attracting the most direct international investment last year, rising six places. Among 173 developing countries, Turkey became the 12th country attracting the most direct international investment. Those investments were up 11 percent year on year in the first five months of the year, reaching $6.5 billion. The ministry expects the figure to near $20 billion by the end of the year. The amount of direct international investment in Turkey from 2003 to date has exceeded the total amount from the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923 until 2003.