World Bank: More jobs needed in Turkey
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The World Bank issued a report on Monday, with a list of subjects that need to be tackled by Turkey, should the country want to join the European Union. The report suggests ways in which the economy and social matters can be brought closer to Europe, as Turkey is still lagging far behind the European model, the report implied.
The World Bank reports stated that Turkey needs to create more jobs, get more women into the work force and send children to school for longer, especially at the secondary level.
The bank praised Turkey for efforts made in economic recovery since the 2001 crisis, but said as a developing country, Turkey still has some way to go in order to close the wealth gap on other European states.
The report also suggested that Turkey focus more on the service sector which accounts for some 57% of the economy. An although productivity was up since the crisis, overall it was down on the 1980s.
Andrew Vorkink, head of the World Bank office in Ankara, said, "Turkey’s employment rate grew at less than 1% a year in the past decade, which is far less than what is needed. Its employment rate in 2004 was 46.1%, and for women 24.3%, compared with European averages of 64.8% and 57% respectively.
Creating more jobs was also critical to Turkey’s image as an EU candidate country, Mr Vorkink said.