Turkey: Transport sector an economic driver amid virus

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) – The transportation sector made great contributions to Turkey's economy amid the pandemic this March through August, the nation's transport and infrastructure minister said Tuesday.

"While we are going through extraordinary times, we are making extraordinary efforts to realize transportation projects that will contribute to our country's economy," Adil Karaismailoglu said on Twitter.

According to the data shared by Karaismailoglu, highway investments alone contributed more than $2.4 billion to Turkey’s GDP, while adding $5.4 billion to production and giving employment opportunities to 95,000 people per year.

Railway investments, too, in this period added $745 million to GDP, $1.6 billion to production, and helped employ 29,000 people per year.

And airline investments added $148 million to GDP along with $331 million to production, and gave jobs to some 5,000 people.

Finally, in the communications sector, investments added $98 million to GDP and $205 million to production, and provided employment for 3,000 people per year, said the official data he shared.