Turk Employers' Union: 8 pct annual growth needed to stay competitive

"Turkey will be ranked the 15th with its economic figures according to the growth forecasts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between 2008 and 2013," the confederation said in a statement.

The IMF forecasts 39.2 percent growth rate for Turkey for the upcoming five years which equates to an annual rate of 6.8 percent.

"Even if the IMF's 6.8 percent growth forecast is realized, Turkey will lose its current place in the global competition list and become the 16th," the confederation said.

However, Turkey remain behind the predicted annual growth figures of China with 12.1 percent, India’s 10 percent, Indonesia with 8.6 percent and Russia at 7.9 percent, the TISK statement said. "Therefore, Turkey needed to grow 45.4 percent (8 percent annually) for the upcoming five years in order to maintain its current place."

TISK also touched on Turkey’s unemployment in the statement and said the desired decrease in the unemployment rate could not be realized during the country's rapid growth years. "Loosening the growth target will fuel an increase in unemployment," TISK warned.

Turkey's unemployment rate reached 10.7 percent for the period of February, March and April 2008.

Turkish economic growth slowed sharply in 2007 to 4.5 percent from an average 7.4 percent in the previous four years and is expected as 5.5 percent for the end of 2008.

In its statement, the confederation said that the business and investment media in the countries should be rehabilitated in order to continue to be competitive.

The confederation also said that Turkey should leave aside moves that increased political polarization, take measures against the possible impact of a global crisis, solve industrial problems and set a national growth strategy.