Turkish Industry and Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan said Saturday that two leading companies of the world automotive sector were planning to make investments in Turkey.

"One of these companies is Magna which will make an investment of 400 million USD in Turkey. The other company is planning to invest 1 billion EUR in the country and talks still continue with it," Caglayan said.

Attending a meeting of Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey (TUSKON), Caglayan said Turkey would soon become a base for the world automotive sector.

Moreover, Caglayan said that he did not believe there was an unemployment issue in Turkey. "Supply and demand do not intersect with each other, this is Turkey's current problem," he said.

Caglayan pointed to the importance of Research & Development (R&D) activities as well. "We aim to turn Turkey into a country which spends 2 percent of its GNP on R&D activities by the year 2013," he said.

Commenting on privatization of PETKIM (Petrochemical Holding), Caglayan said Turkey would earn 2 billion USD thanks to Petkim's sale. He added that the privatization process should be completed as soon as possible.

AA

30 December 2007