Now is the time to invest in Turkey: Top businessman

ANKARA (AA) - Prices in Turkey are currently low, but eventually pent-up demand will push them up, meaning now is a good time to invest in the country, one of Turkey’s leading businessmen said Thursday.

“This is because the costs and sale prices significantly converged,” Hamdi Akin, the chairman of Akfen Holding, one of Turkey’s largest infrastructure groups, told Anadolu Agency's Finance Desk.

Akin said that house sales in the country have been languishing due to postponed demand and fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.

"Prices, especially in house stocks, have accumulated significantly, especially over the last year," he explained.

The Turkish lira has lost nearly 20 percent of its value against the dollar since 2016.

- Back to business

Turkey will hold a referendum on April 16 to decide whether to shift the government system to an executive presidency, among other changes.

According to Akin, after the referendum Turkey will refocus on the economy.

"Turkey will get back to business and the economy," he said.

"In this regard, we are waiting for the end of this process rather than the results of the referendum. Because politics is not our business. Turkish citizens will decide the outcome," Akin said.

Akın said that economic stability is impossible when predictability is absent.

"Businesspeople want to foresee what will happen through the end of this year," he said.

He predicted that 2017 and 2018 will be years of investment for Turkish business circles. "Foreign capital inflows, which should continue at a rising pace, are crucial for our economy."

- Incentive plans

He said that after last July’s defeated coup, foreign investors and politicians had disagreed about the fate of Turkey’s economy.

"People from foreign finance think that the Turkish economy will recover," he said.

On Ankara’s incentive plans for firms investing in eastern Turkey, one of the country’s most under-developed regions, Akin called the plan’s subsidies the best ever.

“So we would like to make investments and be part of this comprehensive program,” he said. “We are planning to open a heating boiler factory in southeastern Turkey with a European partner.” ​

Akfen Holding is active in airport construction, natural gas pipelines/distribution systems, hospitals, tourism, energy trade, and real estate both in Turkey and abroad.