Austrian investors head to Turkey instead of Europe, says Austrian diplomat

ANKARA (A.A) - February 20, 2012 - Commercial Counsellor of the Austrian Embassy in Ankara, Constantine Bekos, said that "its economic performance shows us that Turkey is on the correct path. Due to the crisis in Europe, Austrian investors concentrate on Turkey instead of Europe." Speaking to the AA, Bekos said "Austrian investors were interested in Turkey, especially in the energy field. Both countries have deep relationship in history and an important amount of Turkish population in Austria became a bridge to make relations stronger." Bekos said that while the European countries were struggling with economic crisis, Turkey and Austria attracted more attention based on their strong economy.  Bekos underlined, "that is the reason why Austrian investors have been concentrating on Turkey." -Expatriates have trigged the trade- Austrian investment in the past was gathered around energy sector in Turkey. Recently, Austria has also invested in different fields such as agriculture and livestock, security technologies and winter tourism. Turkey also has engaged in selling to Austria different materials in past years, Bekos noted.  -We are ready to cooperate on domestic auto- Bekos said, "many Austrian companies have invested in Turkey in auto spare parts. So, we follow very closely Turkey's efforts for domestic auto producing. I do not agree that it is so late to do so. It is not too late for anything. Turkey can achieve this with the support of its government. We have BMW and Wolkswagen factories in our country. And we are ready to share our know-how with Turkey."