Neighbors seek Turkish investments to stem joblesness

As the negative impact of a lingering sovereign debt crisis continues to bite -- particularly exacerbating unemployment figures -- local authorities from Turkey's western neighbors, Bulgaria and Greece, are stepping up efforts to attract Turkish investments, local authorities in Thrace report. Speaking to Today's Zaman, Tekirdağ Mayor Adem Dalgıç, who also heads the East-West Thrace Municipalities Union (Trakyakent), says local authorities in Bulgaria and Greece are requesting them to help persuade Turkish businesses to establish facilities and hire local workers in their respective countries. "Among these are municipalities of regions with a predominantly Turkish population. …local authorities from Thessaloniki, Kavala and Sofia want to see Turkish manufacturing facilities established. Some say they could offer incentives, including land allocation, to Turkish investors," he stated. The latest figures from Eurostat reveal a troublesome picture regarding the jobless rate in Greece and Bulgaria. Unemployment has reached new highs in Greece, with October 2012 figures showing the jobless rate to be 26.8 percent. Likewise, Bulgaria's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 12.4 percent in November 2012, which was above the 11.8 percent EU average. One critical factor, Dalgıç underlines, is that more people from Bulgaria and Greece have started looking for ways of working in relatively more stable European markets such as Germany and France. "Local authorities from these two countries would like to reverse worker migration to other countries. … Some of these people seek jobs in Turkey but we could play a key role in creating new job opportunities in these places instead," he explains. Tekirdağ is home to 1,500 manufacturing facilities, some of which belong to leading global industrialists, established in the city's organized industrial zones. "Its growing role as a manufacturing hub also triggers a growth in trade with Greece and Bulgaria, with the daily traffic of transportation companies carrying relatively cheaper, quality products to the other side of the border increasing."