ANKARA

Turkey is determined to become a global production and technology center, the country’s president said on Saturday.

“We are committed to making Turkey, the center of three continents, a global production, and technology center, whether some people like it or not,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the opening ceremony of the MESS Technology Center in Istanbul.

With its 85 technoparks and 1,607 research and design centers, Turkey is one step closer to achieving its aim of developing groundbreaking technologies, Erdogan added.

He said Turkish companies stood out with their high-quality products, competitive prices, and “above all with their reliability” during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I hope the momentum Turkey has gained will further increase as the pandemic’s negative effects reduce globally and everything begins to fall into place again,” said the president.

Highlighting the continued flow of investment into Turkey, Erdogan said: “Turkey, which could not even take a step without the IMF [International Monetary Fund] 18 years ago, is now the world’s 13th largest country based on purchasing power parity.”

“We are the leader in agricultural output in all of Europe,” he added./aa