Turkey sees 2020 as investment year: Top official

By Sinan Balcikoca

KUTAHYA, Turkey (AA) - Turkey sees the year 2020 as an investment year, the industry and technology minister said on Thursday.

Investment incentive data supports the country's investment expectations, Mustafa Varank noted in an event in Turkey’s western Kutahya province.

He stressed: "We broke a record with the number of investment incentive certificates both in December 2019 and January 2020."

The latest industrial production data was also quite high, both capacity utilization rates and real sector confidence rose in February, he reminded.

Varank also said: "The economic recovery that started in the third quarter of last year will sit on a stronger ground in the last quarter.

"Hopefully, in 2020, we will leave the performance of the last two years behind both in terms of growth and employment."

The economic confidence index was up 0.5% to reach 97.5 in February, on a monthly basis, according to official figures on Thursday.

Referring to the ministry's "Competitive Sectors Program" revealed last year, he said the ministry chose 11 projects to support, with costs totaling €65 million ($71 million).

Turkey targets to improve design, branding, and technologic know-how of SMEs and entrepreneurs in the country, Varank added.

* Writing and contributions by Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul.