Some 120 American investors attended the 13th edition of the Türkiye Investment Conference held in New York City on Sept. 19, showing the strong interest in the Turkish economy from US companies.
The event was organized by the Türkiye-U.S. Business Council (TAİK) and hosted by Goldman Sachs.
The interest from American investors was so huge that after the conference, rooms on the 43rd floor at the Goldman Sachs’ headquarters were allocated for talks between Turkish and American businesspeople, said Nail Olpak, the president of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK).
“I have not seen anything like it before. It was extraordinary,” he said.
Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and Trade Minister Ömer Polat made presentations at the investment conference, which was followed by the Q&A session.
There were also representatives from 80 Turkish companies at the conference, including the large industrial groups Koç, Sabancı, FİBA, Eczacıbaşı, Çalık and Çolakoğlu, according to Olpak.
American investors’ interest in the Turkish economy was obvious during the presentations and the Q&A session, Olpak said.
“Normally, such events conclude after a luncheon and formal greetings. But it was different this time. Doors at the floor were opened for Turkish and American investors to have business talks… And those talks did not last for 10 minutes or so but much longer,” he added.
Meanwhile, in the speech he delivered at the Investment Conference, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Türkiye remains a safe haven for investors.
“While enhancing our relations with the U.S. on the political level, we also need to diversify our cooperation in the economic field,” Erdoğan said.
There is great potential between the two countries, from new and groundbreaking technologies to critical sectors, from innovation to manufacturing and from artificial intelligence to cyber security, he added, noting that the bilateral trade volume has grown by 1.5 times over the last decade.
Source: Hurriyet
