UPDATE - Turkey: Real sector recovery speeding up

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM INDUSTRY MINISTER

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey's real sector has been recovering at an accelerated pace in June, with electricity consumption rising 31% in the first half of the month compared to May, the industry and technology minister said Wednesday.

"In the first two weeks of this month, electricity consumption in the industry has now surpassed that of April and May," Mustafa Varank said during a meeting with local businessmen in Kocaeli, an industrial province in northwestern Turkey.

He stressed that leading sectors such as automotive, textile and furniture were rejuvenating with confidence and that the economy was growing.

"As we enter the new normal, we need a permanent and steady recovery in the real sector, we are closely following the progress in industry and regularly monitoring the leading indicators of production," he said.

In the first five months of this year, 5,547 enterprises entered the real sector as new players and brought a new breath to the economy, Varank explained.

"Solely in our organized industrial zones, 520 new factories began production during this period," he noted, adding, despite the pandemic conditions, investment demand is stronger than last year.

He stressed in the January-May period, the government issued an investment incentive certificate totaling 67 billion Turkish liras ($9.8 billion).

"When these investments are realized, new job opportunities will be created for 110,000 citizens. Our main goal is to put this trend in a continuous structure," he concluded.