”Interest of Dutch investors in Turkey is overwhelming”
Paul Korff de Gidts, Deputy Consul General and Head of the Commercial and Economic Section of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in İstanbul
Prior to the recent global recession which hit all economies throughout the world, the Turkish economy sustained strong economic growth for 27 quarters consecutively, making it one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. A solid macroeconomic strategy in combination with prudent fiscal policies and major structural reforms in effect since 2002, has integrated the Turkish economy into the globalized world, while transforming the country into one of the major recipients of FDI in its region. Between 2002 and 2009 the economic growth of Turkey increased by an average rate of 7%. In 2010, the Turkish economy grew by an average rate of 8.9%.
According to the IMF, between 2010-2017, the annual average real GDP growth rate will be 6.7%. The visible improvements in the Turkish economy have also boosted foreign trade, while exports reached USD 114 billion by the end of 2010, up from USD 36 billion in 2002. Similarly, tourism revenues, which were around USD 8.5 billion in 2002, exceeded USD 20 billion in 2010.
Significant improvements in such a short period of time have registered Turkey on the world economic scale as an exceptional emerging economy, the 16th largest economy in the world and the 6th largest economy when compared with the EU countries, according to GDP figures in 2010