TEPAV Director Sak: “Transport Corridors Necessary for Integration in the Mediterranean” Sak stated that the share of MENA countries in Turkey’s exports increased from 17.8 percent in 2007 to 35.3 percent in 2012.

WASHINGTON – TEPAV Director Güven Sak pointed at the need to improve transportation infrastructure for economic integration in the MENA region, the share of which in Turkey’s exports has been improving remarkably.

Sak attended the meeting titled “Transatlantic Economic Forum: Building Bridges across the Mediterranean” organized in Washington DC on 10-12 June 2013 by Johns Hopkins University the SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations.

Speaking at the second day’s panel session titled “Transatlantic Cooperation – Benefit for All” Sak first gave information about the Ankara Forum, which bring together Palestinian, Israeli and Turkish business communities in contribution to the peace-building process, and the Forum operations for establishing an industrial park in Jenin. Sak later talked about the impediments to economic integration in the Mediterranean and possible solutions.

Pointing at the rapid improvement in the share of MENA in Turkey’s exports, which increased from 17.8 percent in 2007 to 35.3 percent in 2012, Sak stated that Southern Mediterranean’s economic development was more important than ever for Turkey.

“Intra-South Mediterranean integration is insufficient”

Sak stated that while the South was integrated with the North, it was not the case for intra-South integration, which he argued related to political problems and the lack of market-oriented policy framework and of transport corridors. Emphasizing that the Mediterranean region had become a main trans-continental transit route, he focused on possible steps to take for the South.