Govt arm to invest RM4.5bil to manage hospitals in Turkey

ANKARA: Government investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd has committed to invest US$1.4bil (RM4.5bil) to manage 20 hospitals in Turkey beginning next year.

“The market value of the US$1.4bil invested by Khazanah is about US$2bil (RM6.4bil).

“This is a very significant investment and Khazanah is confident that the returns will be very good,” said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said Khazanah, through Malaysian Airports Bhd, would also increase its stake in Istanbul’s second international airport, Sabiha Gökçen Airport, from 20% to 60%.

The airport, which will have five runways, is one of the biggest in the world.

Najib said two memoranda of understanding were also signed between the two countries in the academia sector.

“Turkey hopes to increase the number of Malaysian students here, from the current 70, given the problems that are going on in Egypt,” he said.

He said tourism between the two countries was also expected to increase when Turkish Airlines increased the frequency of its flights from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur to six times a week.

Najib said a Turkish Cultural Centre would be set up in Kuala Lumpur as requested by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan.

On the signing of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Malaysia and Turkey, he said the focus of the Malaysia-Turkey FTA (MTFTA) would be to increase trade value between the two nations.

The Prime Minister told a press conference late Wednesday night before leaving Ankara for Kuala Lumpur: “To ensure that our intent to increase the value of trade between Malaysia and Turkey is achieved, a joint economic technical committee will be meeting soon to discuss various issues that will arise as well as the opportunities that can be explored by both countries.”

He added that one of the main aims of the MTFTA was to increase trading opportunities from the current US$1.5bil (RM4.8bil) level to US$5bil (RM16bil) in five years’ time.

Najib said Erdogan had mentioned he would be taking the MTFTA to the Turkish Parliament in June to be ratified.

Under the MTFTA, signed by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and Turkish Economic Minister Nihat Zekbejci, Turkey is required to eliminate and bind duties at 0% for close to 70% of the country’s tariff lines.

Malaysia, too, will bind duties at 0% for some 70% of the country’s tariff lines.

Some of the Malaysian exports that will benefit from immediate duty-free treatment in Turkey include rubber products, chemicals, selected iron and steel products, machinery as well as wood and leather products.

Another significant gain for Malaysia is in the textile and apparel sector, which is Malaysia’s largest export items to Turkey.

Under the MTFTA, Turkey will eliminate duties on all textiles and apparel products once the agreement comes into effect.