Turkey looks at Izmir port offload in bid to boost foreign investment

Turkey is looking to sell the operating rights to the Alsancak port in the city of Izmir as part of a push to increase foreign investment.

The buyers have not yet been named but the Turkish Minister for Transportation and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu stated that talks were currently ongoing with Arab countries in the Gulf.

The minister told Bloomberg that "there are investment talks with countries in the Gulf region and Alsancak port is also in the scope of these investments."

The port is currently owned by the Turkish sovereign wealth fund TWF and operated by the national rail company TCDD.

According to the freight group it can handle up to 1.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units of container cargo and 1.4 million tons of general and bulk dry cargo per year.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to embark on a Gulf tour this month, visiting the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar in a bid to attract foreign investment amid continued economic turmoil in Turkey.

It follows a round of talks in Abu Dhabi that sought to secure funds for the energy and defence sector from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Attracting foreign investment is a major part of the new economic plan that Turkey has embarked on since President Erdogan won this year’s election.

A new central bank chief and minister of finance were appointed following the election with base interest rates in the country rising to 15 percent.

The Financial Times also reported that investors bought $1 billion worth of equities in the last three weeks alone.