Ankara-Deputy Prime Minister Noureddine Jankly said that Ankara is in a good condition that is adequate for foreign investments, stressing Turkey is looking forward to more Saudi investments.

This statement was made following his meeting on Thursday with Mansour bin Saleh Al Maiman, Chairman of the Board at NCB Capital Company, and Saeed Mohammed Alghamdi, Vice President of Türkiye Finans, whose 63% of shares are owned by Saudi investors.

Maiman told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Turkish market is the second most important investment market with regards to Saudi investors after Saudi Arabia, adding that banks contribute to the effective investment in the Turkish market, describing Turkey’s economy as stable.

Total Saudi investments in Turkey reached USD11 billion at the beginning of 2016 while 800 Saudi companies investing in Turkey’s various fields including energy, real estate and telecommunications. Turkey aims to increase the number of Saudi companies operating there and to attract Saudi investors and companies to place their investments in Istanbul in particular.

Furthermore, Turkey’s exports rose during August 6.9% compared with the same month in 2015. The Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) declared in a statement on Thursday that total exports in August 2015 reached USD11.1 billion before dropping 3.1% during the first eight months of 2016 compared with the same period in 2015.

According to Turkish Statistical Institute, Turkey’s exports to Britain underwent a 53% rise doing the last five years while imports from Britain dropped 4.6% during the first half of 2016, reaching USD2.6 billion. Turkish exports to the European Union increased during the same period as well up to 10.4% while imports dropped 2.8%.