By MUSHTAK PARKER | ARAB NEWS
In the corridors of power in Ankara, a new thinking is emerging especially among the “Young Turks” of the Turkish establishment.
A combination of the aftermath of the global financial crisis; the seemingly intractable euro zone debt crisis with neighboring rival, Greece, bearing the brunt of the criticism; and endless obfuscation and simmering opposition by some diehard opponents to Turkish membership of the European Union; and the uncertainty in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region because of the so-called “Arab Spring,” is forcing Ankara to look beyond its traditional trading partners and markets in the EU and the Middle East and to consider alternative ways of raising funds and investments into the country.
Turkish companies are now exploring opportunities and are already active in sub-Saharan Africa; South and East Asia and even further afield in Latin America.
The process is not one-sided. In fact, Turkey and Malaysia, for instance, are forging greater cooperation in trade, investment and especially linkages in the Islamic financial industry between the two markets.
How times are changing. The new “Sick Men of Europe” are Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy and possibly Spain — a big enough quorum to form their own unique club.
Turkey on the other hand, with its projected six percent plus GDP growth rate for 2011, is walking tall — politically confident with the ruling Erdogan government recently returned with a landslide in its third successive democratic elections; economically far more stable sustained especially by export diversification and robust domestic demand; and the banking system weathering the global financial crisis far better because it learnt the lessons from its own financial crisis in 2001.
The relatively modest volume of trade and investment between the Turkey and Malaysia currently reflects the enormous opportunity for further growth.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives for the first working session at the G20 summit in Cannes, France. (AP)