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PRESS RELEASE: PRESS/TPRB/225
19 December 2003

TRADE POLICY REVIEW: TURKEY

Continued reforms needed to improve economic performance

The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government of Turkey, will be the basis for the third Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Turkey by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 17 and 19 December 2003.

Turkey’s economic reforms could be strengthened by continued structural adjustment, including privatization, and by the improvement of its multilateral commitments, both in goods and services. These would enhance its ability to attract foreign investment and the predictability of its trade regime, according to a report on the trade policies and practices of Turkey released 19 December by the WTO Secretariat.

The report says that since 1998, Turkey has implemented four stabilization programmes but they are yet to show full and sustainable effects. The economic situation remains fragile and the country’s vast potential for attracting investment remains largely untapped, in part because of politico-economic instability, high external indebtedness, slow progress in the implementation of its privatization programme and restrictions on foreign direct investment.

The report also calls for further simplification of the tariff which remains complex, and the extension of the binding commitments to ensure further integration of Turkey into the multilateral trading system.

The following documents are available in MS Word format.

• Secretariat report
  > Contents and summary observations (10 pages, 111KB)
  > Economic environment (12 pages, 420KB)
  > Trade policy regime: framework and objectives (18 pages, 1040KB)
  > Trade policies and practices by measure (52 pages, 1948KB)
  > Trade policies by sector (38 pages, 340KB)
  > Appendix tables (29 pages, 1613KB)
    
• Government report (30 pages, 174KB)
    
• Chairperson's concluding remarks
    
• Minutes of the meeting are available approximately 6 weeks after the meeting.  

Note  back to top

Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each review, two documents are prepared: a policy statement by the government of the member under review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.

Print copies of previous TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop.

The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press, 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States.

Schedule of forthcoming reviews  back to top

United States: 14 and 16 of January 2004
Gambia: 4 and 6 of February 2004
Sri Lanka: 3 and 5 of March 2004