Industrialist Stef Wertheimer will be a member of an international committee advising the Turkish government. The committee will hold its first meeting next week in Istanbul. Wertheimer will be the only Israeli on the committee, which will be headed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The committee will draw up a five-year economic and business plan for Turkey, in order to attract investment to the country.
Turkish State Minister Ali Babacan, who attended a conference in the Tefen industrial park in January 2004, will serve on the committee. Other members include World Bank president James Wolfensohn; Fiat CEO Giuseppe Morchio; Lewis Booth, group vice president, president, and COO, Ford of Europe; Hyundai Motor Company president and CEO Dong-Jin Kim; Nestle executive VP Asia, Oceania, Africa, Middle East Michael Garrett.
Wertheimer is establishing an industrial park in Turkey at an estimated cost of $10 million, in a 50% partnership with local investors. The Turkish park will be modeled on the park at Tefen. Avraham Asheri is in charge of Wertheimer’s operations in Turkey.
The idea of the park began several years ago, during a visit to Israel by then-Turkish President Suleiman Demirel.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on March 14, 2004