World Bank spells out a reform for Turkey
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The World Bank has issued a report entitled "Turkey: Country economic memorandum 2006", which recognizes Ankara's reform efforts to date and spells out further steps necessary to be taken. Mentioned in the report are a number of key issues that Turkey must focus on to bring the country in line with European standards. Unemployment and education are among the key issues Turkey is advised by the World Bank to address during its journey toward EU membership.
The key recommendations include:
• creating new job opportunities and getting more women into the work force
• reducing the 'black economy'
• improving the quality of policy co-ordination across different parts of the country's public administration
• tighter measures to rationalise expenditures, while at the same time increasing the budget for education, infrastructural and rural development and environment
• continuing with reforms to improve tax efficiency and broaden the tax base
• continuing with a determined debt reduction process
• removing administrative barriers to businesses
• advancing with state aid system reform
• boosting technology adoption and innovation
• promoting social inclusion
The aim of the study is to help Turkey "smoothly" manage its EU accession process and to simultaneously define a broader development agenda outside the scope of the EU acquis, said Andrew Vorkink, head of the World Bank office in Ankara.
Turkey's chief EU negotiator, Ali Babacan, has confirmed the Turkish government's commitment to reforming the country's economy, adding that fighting inflation remains one of the pillars of Ankara's economic programme.