World Bank spells out a reform agenda for Turkey

Unemployment and education are among the key issues Turkey is advised by the World Bank to address during its journey toward EU membership.

In its fresh report entitled ‘Turkey: Country economic memorandum 2006,’ the World Bank recognises Ankara’s reform efforts and economic performance to date and directs attention to future steps to be taken.

The key recommendations include:

• creating new job opportunities and getting more women into the work force
• reducing the ‘black economy’
• improving the quality of policy co-ordination across different parts of the country’s public administration
• tighter measures to rationalise expenditures, while at the same time increasing the budget for education, infrastructural and rural development and environment
• continuing with reforms to improve tax efficiency and broaden the tax base
• continuing with a determined debt reduction process
• removing administrative barriers to businesses
• advancing with state aid system reform
• boosting technology adoption and innovation
• promoting social inclusion

The aim of the study is to help Turkey “smoothly” manage its EU accession process and to simultaneously define a broader development agenda outside the scope of the EU acquis, said Andrew Vorkink, head of the World Bank office in Ankara.

Turkey’s chief EU negotiator, Ali Babacan, has confirmed the Turkish government’s commitment to reforming the country’s economy, adding that fighting inflation remains one of the pillars of Ankara’s economic programme.

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