ANKARA, April 22, 2008 - The Undersecretariat of the Treasury of Republic of Turkey, the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT), and the World Bank announced today an agreement on a US$ 434,000 grant for a Capacity Building Project for ISPAT. ISPAT was established by the Government in July 2006. Mr. İbrahim Çanakcı, Undersecretary of the Treasury, Alpaslan Korkmaz, President of ISPAT, and World Bank Country Director Ulrich Zachau announced the agreement on behalf of the three institutions.
The objective of ISPAT’s project supported by the grant is to strengthen its capacity and develop a comprehensive business plan that will improve its ability to design and implement strategies to attract foreign direct investment in selected industries. The grant will help finance workshops and training for ISPAT staff, as well as “training of trainers” programs. The project will be implemented through close collaboration between the international experts and local staff to maximize knowledge and skills transfer.
“Investment and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT) can play a crucial role in helping attract new investors, encourage joint ventures with foreign enterprises, and support the development of green-field investments in Turkey,” said Ulrich Zachau, World Bank Country Director for Turkey. “I am pleased about the opportunity for the World Bank, through this grant, to help finance ISPAT’s project to strengthen its capacity to provide high quality investment support and promotion services. A strong ISPAT can make an important contribution in further improving Turkey’s investment climate.”
The World Bank’s grant to ISPAT is provided under the Bank’s Institutional Development Fund (IDF) facility, launched in 1992 to finance quick, action-oriented, discrete, generally innovative, capacity-building activities in the Bank’s partner countries. Priority areas for IDF grants include public expenditure management and financial accountability, procurement, results-oriented monitoring and evaluation systems, and systemic legal and judicial reforms.
