Turkey has always been a stable country regarding taxes and business laws, according to Nikos Stathopoulos, a managing partner global investment company, BC Partners.
Speaking in New York at the Borsa Istanbul forum, "Istanbul: Regional Hub, Global Actor", which aims to inform an international audience of Istanbul's potential as an international financial center, Stathopoulos said that "Turkey has significant potential to attract foreign investment as it is a large, growing and healthy economy, has attractive demographics, a stable tax and regulatory regime, well capitalised and properly regulated banking system and a liquid and well developed stock market.
Stability in its currency and the political and geopolitical situation will increase the attractiveness of the country to long term patient capital which can further support its growth. "Turkey is a very attractive country regarding macro and micro economic figures."
Ibrahim Turhan, Borsa Istanbul's General Director, also speaking at the forum, mentioned the advancements Turkey's stock exchange has made since it was founded two years ago as a non-profit public institution.
Emphasizing the importance Borsa Istanbul gives to supporting small and medium size enterprises in Turkey, Turhan said "Small and medium size enterprises cannot easily reach financial resources abroad, so the only way out for them is capital markets. We founded a system for such enterprises and it is easy for every one of them to integrate into that system."
Meanwhile, Charles R. Johnston, director and senior vice president for International Government Affairs at Citigroup, appreciated Istanbul's potential in becoming an international finance center, saying "Istanbul is a perfect location".
Commenting on the up-to-date technology of Borsa Istanbul and its wonderful staff, Meyer “Sandy” Frucher, Vice Chairman of the NASDAQ OMX Group, also noted that "I think the efforts of the current government to develop Istanbul as a financial center will continue in a very stable way and be carried on my future governments."
