Focus on industry, business leaders tell gov’t

"Instead of providing incentives for investments, the government should offer incentives for production," according to a report the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, or TOBB, presented Wednesday at a meeting held with the members of the Cabinet including State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Mehdi Eker.

"It is a positive development that the government is considering to restructure the sector/region-based incentives system," the report read. "However, there is a dramatic decline in capacity utilization and employment figures. In such times, when both domestic and international demand hit rock bottom, it would be better to provide support for utilizing the capacity instead of creating additional capacity that would not be used."

There is no point in talking about new investments before finding a solution to production and consumption troubles, said TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu.