President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to meet with Italian investors today in Rome at a meeting organized in coordination with Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT) and hosted by Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) and Pirelli.
At the meeting, which will be attended by senior representatives of Italian companies operating in many sectors such as automotive, machinery, defense industry, food and drug, investment environment in Turkey, investment opportunities, actual economic developments and new reforms will be discussed.
Besides the Italian companies that already have investments in Turkey, Italian companies seeking investment opportunities in Turkey are also expected to attend the meeting. At the meeting organized by ISPAT, Pirelli and the Italian think tank organization ISPI, President Erdoğan will address the investors and invite them to make new investments in Turkey.
Speaking of the meeting, ISPAT Chairman Arda Ermut stressed that President Erdoğan gives particular importance to coming together with the business world in the countries he visits.
"Also at this meeting, we are bringing together our President with the senior representatives of the leading Italian companies. Italy, with a $20 billion of bilateral trade volume in the last year, has become one of Turkey's biggest partners among EU countries. In addition, more than 1400 Italian companies operating in our country have brought more than $3 billion of foreign capital to Turkey since 2002 to date," Ermut said, stressing that the quality of investments also needs to be highlighted. "In line with the confidence they had in Turkey's industrial and economic potential since the day one, Italian companies have contributed to the economic development by bringing capital and technology to our country."
Within the scope of the said meeting, latest updates on Turkish economy will be shared and ideas will be exchanged with the senior representatives of the Italian giants.
Ahead of his departure to the Vatican yesterday, President Erdoğan said that there is great potential for cooperation between Turkey and Italy, especially in terms of the defense industry. Erdoğan emphasized that the two countries will discuss new mutually beneficial projects that will create a win-win situation for both parties.
The president also indicated that bilateral trade volume between the two countries was nearly $20 billion last year. However, he also said that the potential of the two countries was well above this figure. President Erdoğan informed the audience that the two countries have set a target of $30 billion in bilateral trade volume by 2020, adding that they will discuss the mutual steps that need to be taken to in order reach this target during the visit.