Istanbul Finance Center ‘to help draw investment’

Istanbul Finance Center (IFM) will enhance Türkiye's potential of attracting foreign capital inflow, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on April 17.

"IFM will make serious contributions to our country's economy with the start of domestic and foreign financial institutions operating in the region. It will create a new financial ecosystem in Istanbul, the meeting point of three continents," Erdoğan said at the opening ceremony of the banks' phase of the Istanbul Financial Center.

"Getting together our institutions is the first step in the formation of the ecosystem. IFM will also increase our investment attracting potential by facilitating international capital flow," he added.

Erdoğan said the Istanbul Finance Center will take the country to a higher league in finance.

"The Istanbul Financial Center is a visionary project developed to strengthen Türkiye's position in the world economy and to make our country a regional and, in the future, a global financial center," he stated.

Citing the old financial centers such as New York, London and Frankfurt, as well as new ones such as Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong, the president said, "The center of gravity of global finance is increasingly shifting from west to east. In this context, the increasing trade competition between Asia and Europe and the geopolitical position of our country open new windows of opportunity for Istanbul."

Erdoğan said that the government has taken the targets one step higher with the Turkish Economic Model, which he said is based on developing Türkiye through investment, employment, production, exports and current account surplus.

The president recalled that a few years after his government announced its intention to move the state banks and...