FINANCE - Turkish PM seems resolute to turn Istanbul into global financial hub (celebration ISE Istanbul Stock Exchange 25 years)

Erdogan said that headquarters would be carried to Istanbul in the next 2 or 3 years.

Turkish government is resolute to turn Istanbul into a regional and international financial hub as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated plans to move headquarters of state-owned banks and several other financial institutions from capital Ankara to Istanbul, country's largest city with around 15 million population.

In his speech at a conference organized by the Istanbul Stock Exchange on Thursday, Erdogan said that headquarters would be carried to Istanbul in the next 2 or 3 years.

State-owned banks and other governmental institutions to move to Istanbul include Ziraat Bank, Vakifbank, Halkbank, Capital Markets Board of Turkey (SPK) and Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK).

"We cannot delay these plans any more. We will start in 2011. I hope all headquarters will be finished in the next 2 or 3 years," Erdogan said.

Government's earlier plans included Central Bank too. However, Erdogan did not talk about it in his speech.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said that Central Bank headquarters would not move to Istanbul in the short term because of its heavy traffic and close contact with the Treasury.

"We think, for now, it would be better for Central Bank to continue its operations in Ankara," Babacan said.

Source : http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=67192 - Dec 9, 2010