Speeches

Remarks by Consul General Sharon A. Wiener at Foreign Commercial Service's "Tradewinds" Conference

Istanbul - April 14, 2008              

Good morning!

It’s a great pleasure and honor to welcome you to Istanbul and to the Trade Winds Europe Conference.  The Europe-wide focus of this event both recognizes Turkey’s continued progress toward becoming a full member of the European Union, and the increasing importance of Turkey itself as a trade partner with America and the world.

It’s extremely gratifying, but really no surprise at this point in time, that over 60 American firms have come here as part of the largest American Trade Delegation ever to visit Turkey.  In the last 6 years, Turkey has had a period of unparalleled expansion, thanks to a Government that recognizes that the best way to improve the economic lot of its people is through freer trade and investment.  This view was expressed by major reforms in almost all facets of the economy, commerce, and bureaucracy, and resulted in a period of sustained growth and economic stability unmatched here in the last 50 years.  And that is why many of you are here today.

Turkey’s growth and stability have made it the 17^th largest economy in the world, and a highly competitive destination for Foreign Direct Investment.  Last year, this country attracted $22 billion in Foreign Direct Investment, up from $20 billion the year before.  Two-way trade between Turkey and the U.S. stands at $11.2 billion dollars, and U.S. exports to Turkey grew 15% last year to $6.6 billion. Early numbers for this year indicate similar growth.

The economic agenda of the Turkish Government closely parallels what we in the U.S. Government would like to see happen here:  sustainable growth through macroeconomic stability; continued microeconomic and structural reforms essential to the transition to a knowledge-based, high value-added economy; and extension of economic benefits to those areas that traditionally have not seen them, particularly the Southeast.  At the highest levels of government, we agree that these are desirable goals, and want to work together to identify the best ways to achieve them, and to ensure that the U.S. private sector can and does contribute to them.

In fact, this week Ambassador Ross Wilson was unable to be here, since he’ll be involved in another bilateral business conference in Washington D.C., as well as a meeting of our bilateral Economic Partnership Commission – or EPC – a forum for broad policy discussions.  The intended product of each EPC meeting is a list of “to-dos” – concrete actions we're working together to achieve over the next year on all manner of topics, including business-to-business contacts, energy cooperation, innovation, science and technology, educational exchanges, economic reform, and, of course, bilateral trade,

In the many years since the end of the Cold War, commercial promotion has become an increasingly important part of the U.S. Government’s activities overseas.  This is especially evident in a commercial center like Istanbul, where a good part of my time is spent meeting with U.S. and Turkish firms, and representing American company interests with Turkish officials.  The U.S. Mission to Turkey --  both the Embassy in Ankara and the Consulate General in Istanbul  --  includes three agencies directly charged with managing and reporting on our economic and commercial relationship, and protecting the interests of U.S. companies doing business here.  These are:  the State Department, with its economic officers,  the Department of Commerce’s Commercial Service, and the Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.  But in addition, many other sections – Political, Public Affairs, the Office of Defense Cooperation, and the Department of Justice, among others – get involved to help some aspect of business get done.  Each has distinct responsibilities, but all work together to improve opportunities for U.S. exporters to, and investors in, Turkey, to the mutual benefit of both Turks and Americans.  And, both Ambassador Wilson and I get involved personally as needed.

I would be remiss if I did not thank the members of the U.S. Commercial Service who have made this event possible.  But I would also like to extend my thanks to the companies and organizations – many of whose logos you see on the banners here – and whose generous support and involvement has made this Conference possible. 

Whether your interests lie in Turkey or in any of the European Countries represented here by 28 U.S. Senior Commercial Officers, I wish you a profitable and enjoyable time.

I trust I will have a chance to speak with you more about your goals in Turkey at some of the evening events lined-up this week.  Meanwhile please accept my wishes for a most successful conference.  

Thank you.