Live phone connection by SkyTürk TV with our Chairman, Mr. Adnan Nas,
on October 5, 2004


Anchorman: Mr. Nas, I would like to immediately ask you: We are witnessing that Turkey has been taking quick steps for quite a long time for the purposes of harmonization with the European Union; one of the actually important things here is how foreign investors will regard Turkey from now on. But when we look at the past, say, the 2001 crisis, we had seen that foreign investors had taken their portfolios out of Turkey as fast as a brush fire. Is it safe now to say that from now on, foreign investors will regard Turkey in a more stable way?

Adnan Nas: Generally speaking, I can tell you yes. However, I have to underline a fact: foreign investors, or more accurately, investors in general, because the term "foreign" is probably not the right word, it is a global fact that it is difficult to lure investors than to frighten them away. That means frightening investment away is easy; if you make things worse, it immediately flies away like a fluttered bird. But if you gradually improve things, they come back more slowly. As foreigners call it, this is a "gradual" come back. For this reason, we are here panicked more than necessary, promptly asking why they have not come back yet. Let me assure you; an investor waits to be secure; to feel safe. There is absolutely a period of wait-and-see. But this EU issue is a very important signal to them given the fact that they should feel secure. Thus it means a guarantee to them. Yes, it is exactly what I said. What you call "assurance" is not, of course, something offered by security forces. It matters that an investor will feel secure. One of the indispensable conditions is the suppression of volatility in both economic and political terms. If we have to speak your language, it is very important that there should be no volatility in certain parameters such as interest or exchange rates. Highly volatile economic conditions frighten away the investors as, very naturally, an investor looks for a long-term and fixed yield. We should not overlook a very important point. In general, investors from abroad differ from typical investors we know in Turkey. They are publicly traded companies with thousands of investors, not the sole proprietary ones or those ones in which families are dominant as one can see in Turkey. The stakes are very high here and thus calculations should be made very carefully. They cannot say: "Let's make an investment; if not successful, then what can we do, it is our fate". Hence foreign investor needs an investment environment where these calculations are soundly made. Any Turkish investor willing to make investments abroad will surely feel the same. It seems that they will make a long-term strategy. And the strategy does really matter. Turkey should strategically approach this matter; I mean not plenty of investors pour in if we say: let the investments come in whatever area they may be. Let's face it: We are not an immensely important market like, say, China. However, we can move up to a second-degree market only by means of a strategy: How much investment do we wish to see in what sectors? We should decide it.