The Southern and Eastern parts of Turkey will develop in a faster way in order to decrease the important differences between these regions and the more developed Western parts of this country. This is the goal of a project initiated by Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSİAD), formed by important businessmen in this country who have the power and the resources to put things in motion and to bring the necessary change.

The representatives of TUSIAD thought of this project after they studied the information regarding the income obtained per capita in different regions of the country. In the Southern and Southeast areas, namely 14 provinces, the income per capita is nearly 4,000 dollars per year, while in the Western regions this is four times higher.  

The major problems in the less developed regions of Turkey

The vice chairman of TUSIAD, Sedat Şükrü Ünlütürk, considered that this difference is too big, even a “huge gap”, and this has to be changed. Another problem in the Southern region is the high unemployment rate that is over 20%, double comparatively to the rate in the west. The businessmen from TUSIAD try to find a solution for cutting the present discrepancies and implement economic measures for developing the Southern and Eastern regions, such as Diyarbakır, Mardin, Midyat, Batman, Şırnak and Siirt.

The representatives of TUSIAD met the local businessmen in the less developed regions and talked to them about the problems they encountered over the recent years. The both parties tried to find solutions for growing business by developing business projects with partners from Western Turkey in the next ten years.

The members of TUSIAD want to convince other businessmen to invest in less developed regions of Turkey instead of choosing areas from Siberia or Africa, even if the Turkish authorities offered important incentives for investments in the South and East of Turkey. These regions are not considered very attractive by more Turkish businessmen who prefer to go to other countries.

The inequality between east and west in Turkey is not new and it has been affecting the quality of life of many generations. There are still many people in Turkey who live under the hunger threshold and this project is intended to help them obtain a higher income and also to develop the regions in which they live.

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