Turkish, Dutch officials open investment agency in Istanbul

State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan and his Dutch counterpart Frank Heemskerk met yesterday to inaugurate the Istanbul branch of the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency. "With the opening of the agency, we are targeting the development of bilateral economic relations and expanding knowledge of the Netherlands," Heemskerk told the opening ceremony. "The visit of our trade and investment delegation shows once again that the Netherlands has much confidence in recent economic and financial reforms implemented over the past few years in Turkey. Turkey is full of opportunities." He added that he would also visit Ankara to meet with officials and trading partners. "Infrastructure and environmental investments are expected to rise in Turkey within the economic modernization that the Turkish government is going through," Heemskerk also said. "That's why it's quite important to evaluate the potential of the Turkish economy. Government incentive programs also provide an opportunity for Dutch entrepreneurs." For his part, Caglayan said, "Last year the trade volume between our countries was $6.2 billion. However, since then this volume shrank 35 percent due to the crisis." Stating that there are currently 700 Dutch companies in Turkey with total investments of $14 billion, Caglayan said the number of Turkish firms investing in the Netherlands has reached 139 with a total capital of $4 billion. Caglayan and Heemskerk also signed a goodwill statement to boost investment and trade relations between Turkey and the Netherlands.