Turkic Council Project Director Ozge Pan particiated at “Exporters & Investors Summit” organized under the auspices of the Minister of Economy, H. E. Nihat Zeybekci and the President of Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB), H.E. Dr. Bandar Hajjar on 26 April 2018, in Izmir.
At the summit, challenges and opportunities for Turkish investors, exporters and contractors, as well as means for exploring how the IsDB Group and Turk Eximbank can provide support and assistance to boost Turkish exports and services in the world markets were discussed. At the opening ceremony, President of the IsDB Group, H.E. Dr. Bandar Hajjar and Minister of Economy of the Republic of Turkey, H. E. Nihat Zebekci shared their remarks with the participants/audience.
In his speech, Dr. Hajjar stressed that the Member countries of IsDB encounter various problems that should be dealt with innovative policies. He added in this regard public dept and budget deficit in the IsDB Member countries constitute two major problems that the governments and multilateral organizations can not resolve by themselves and therefore it is of utmost importance for the Member countries to elborate sustainable development plans in which private sector plays major and vital role.
In his opening remarks, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Turkey, H. E. Nihat Zeybekci expressed that the major deadlock that is facing the Islamic world today is the inability to transform its economic potential into production and the only alternative for the economies of IsDB Member countries is to establish a viable environment that defines its own consumption patterns and creates its own distribution and consuption channels. He also underlined the fast changing economic trends in the world and that it is essential for the Islamic world to translate this wave of transformation into new opprtunities.
Pursuant to the plenary session, two panel discussion sessions were held on the subjects “Supporting Turkey’s aspirations for private sector-led growth” and “cross border trade and investment challenges and opportunities”.