Turks are seeking opportunities in the neighbour

Representatives of Greek agencies seeking to begin repairing the Greek economy through privatization and foreign investment, with some of Greece's leading businessmen, visited their Turkish counterparts in Istanbul on Tuesday, seeking to entice entrepreneurs from their eastern neighbour to invest in the debt-stricken country's mammoth 50-billion-euro privatization program. Under the strain of a heavy sovereign debt crisis, Greece established the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) last July and announced a huge privatization program aiming to raise 50 billion euros to help cover the country's ballooning debts. Businesspeople from both sides discussed potential joint investments at Tuesday's meeting, organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) and the Young Executives and Businessmen's Association (GYİAD). Speaking at the event, Selim Egeli, head of the Turkey-Greece Business Council at the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK), said the meeting represented the development of a mutual understanding between both sides that will add momentum to collaboration. "This is the best time to invest in Greece," said Selim Egeli, noting that many Greek firms had applied to the council to look for potential Turkish partners or investors. HRADF privatization program Coordinator Panos Protopsaltis told reporters on Tuesday that real estate and infrastructure accounted for 90 percent of capital envisaged to be raised by the privatization program. "We are expecting the program to generate 19 billion euros by 2015. The total cash we have raised from privatizations has reached 1.6 billion euros," he said. Still, he emphasized a "lack of interest" from foreign entrepreneurs, given the dire situation in Greek markets. The program's assertive target is to create 50,000 new jobs annually, as well as generate capital equal to 1 percent of each year's GDP