Under the patronage of H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey, the 6th Turkish-Arab Economic Forum (TAF'11) will take place at the Four Seasons Hotel, Istanbul, on 26-27 April, 2011. TAF'11 is organized by Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group and the Turkish ministry of Finance, in cooperation with the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) and the council of Arab League.

TAF has brought together, and since 2005, Ministers, business leaders, professionals, governmental representatives and delegates from various Arab and Turkish bodies, governments and associations. The 5th Turkish-Arab Economic Forum, held in June 2010, was attended by 14 Arab Foreign & Finance Ministers and around 700 business professionals from leading companies coming from the Arab World and Turkey.

Turkey has become an important destination for Arab investors over the past few years and this can be witnessed with the increasing number of Arab companies in the country’s different sectors.
Its dynamic economy is based on a complex mix of modern industry, commerce, a strong agricultural sector that still accounts for about 30% of employment, and a rapidly growing private sector. In addition, it is now expected that Turkey’s fiscal discipline, declining inflation, sustained growth and limited trade imbalances, would provide sufficient reason for the country to receive an investment grade rating by 2011.

Driven by rising exports and the success of policies to reduce supply constraints, the Turkish economy will grow by 7.8% in 2010, or more than double the European average, according to the latest IMF projections.

For its part, the World Bank notes that Turkey’s employment rate has bounced back to pre-global financial crisis levels with a higher GDP, and that it is one of the few countries that are actually performing better than they were before the crisis.

All of these developments and prospects provide a rich background for the Turkish-Arab Economic Forum at its sixth annual meeting on April 26-27, 2011. TAF promises, as it always has throughout the years, to gather top notch speakers and panelists, whose roles will be to highlight on possible matchmaking and investment opportunities in different sectors.