Türkiye’s finance chief recently held meetings with investors and executives of large companies in Germany, shortly before heading to the U.S. as part of a delegation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is set to address the U.N. General Assembly this week.
Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said in a post on X on Saturday that he held “productive meetings” during a one-day visit to Germany.
“Interest in Türkiye continues to grow. We are intensifying our efforts to increase international direct investments, which is our main goal,” he added.
According to information obtained by Anadolu Agency (AA) from the ministry, Şimşek attended the 2024 summit of the Stern Stewart Institute, one of the country’s leading think tanks, in the town of Elmau in Germany’s southern state of Bavaria.
The summit brought together the CEOs and CFOs of more than 50 of Germany’s largest and most established companies and leading academics in their fields.
The minister attended the special session held on Türkiye on the second day of the summit, which commenced on Sept. 19.
This session featured companies that have investments in the country or are considering making investments, according to AA. In a separate session, Şimşek also met with investors and answered their questions.
These meetings were held behind closed doors.
In July, Germany had the largest share in foreign direct investment (FDI) equity capital inflows into Türkiye with 39%, followed by the Netherlands at 24% and the U.S. at 12%, according to a recent report by the International Investors’ Association (YASED).
Following the contacts in Germany, the minister returned home and then traveled to New York, where along with President Erdoğan he is expected to engage with top executives from Wall Street companies.
On Sept. 23, Erdoğan is expected to lead a roundtable discussion with executives from 20 Fortune 100 U.S. companies, the Financial Times reported earlier this month, citing a top business association.
Goldman Sachs is set to host a Turkish investment conference the following day at its Manhattan headquarters, featuring speeches from Şimşek and Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) Governor Fatih Karahan.
Additionally, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır are also set to hold talks organized by the Türkiye-U.S. Business Council (TAIK) and Citigroup.
Türkiye has been implementing a tight monetary and fiscal policy since last year after it reversed years of easing policy to tackle soaring inflation.
The shift in the policies has been recognized by the investors and markets, with all three major credit rating agencies also upgrading their assessments of the country in the past year.
Most recently, Fitch upgraded Türkiye’s rating for the second time this year, following a two-notch rating upgrade by Moody’s earlier in July.
