The third of the forum series entitled “İstanbul: Regional Hub, Global Actor”, organized by Borsa İstanbul and TIM in cooperation with the İstanbul Financial Center Initiative, as part of the vision to make İstanbul a regional and international financial center was held with the theme “Turkey: Discover the Potential” in London on January 20, 2015. The meeting was participated by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan.
The Forum was hosted by Borsa İstanbul and Turkish Exporters Assembly in cooperation with İstanbul Financial Center Initiative. During the Forum, a signing ceremony was held for the recently finalized partnership agreement between Borsa İstanbul and London Stock Exchange.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, and Minister of Finance Mehmet Şimşek participated in the Forum, which analyzed Turkey’s advantages, the steps that have been taken so far for making İstanbul a financial center, and the further steps that need to be taken towards this purpose.
In his speech at the Forum, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that in order to understand the modern economy, one needs to understand London; and in order to understand the conventional economy, one needs to understand İstanbul. The Prime Minister went on to say, “These two traditions come together to make the global economy. London, the center of modern economy, comes together with conventional markets in order to overcome the difficulty in the capital markets. This unison is that of the global economy and conventional economy. Bringing together the Turkish economy and the UK economy may also offer a solution for the European Union”.
Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan pointed out to the fact that Borsa İstanbul is the heart of the Turkish capital markets, and the most important institution for the future of the markets; adding that the partnership agreement signed between Borsa İstanbul and the London Stock Exchange is the first step of the further agreements that Borsa İstanbul will enact in the future.
Congratulating both Exchanges, Babacan said, “London is a very important financial center . İstanbul, on the other hand, is a developing financial center… These two institutions have a lot to do together”.
In his opening speech at “Turkey: Discover the Potential” Forum, Borsa İstanbul Chairman & CEO Dr. İbrahim M. Turhan said “One of the most important reasons that we are here today is the strategic business partnership agreement we will sign between Borsa İstanbul, London Stock Exchange, and LCH.Clearnet. With this agreement, derivative products issued in Turkey and traded on Borsa İstanbul will start being traded on the London Stock Exchange’s markets. We will start with single stock and index futures and options, but we aim to widen the range of products”.
İSTANBUL: REGIONAL HUB, GLOBAL ACTOR PANEL
Mehmet Büyükekşi, Chairman of Turkish Exporters Assembly; Xavier Rolet, CEO of London Stock Exchange Group; Jacques Aigrain, Chairman of LCH. Clearnet Group Ltd.; Suneel Bakhshi, Chief Executive Officer of LCH. Clearnet Group and Meyer “Sandy” Frucher, Vice President of NASDAQ spoke at the panel which was moderated by Artunç Kocabalkan, Chairman of İstanbul Financial Center Initiative. The participants shared their views about the competitive advantages and the opportunities offered by Turkey.
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