Turkish economic growth 'to exceed expectations in 2021'

Turkey is looking at 2021 as the year when the world will win the fight against the pandemic and the nation's economy will make unprecedented growth, the country's industry minister said.

In 2020, global production and trade saw one of the largest drops during the last century, said Mustafa Varank, speaking at the opening ceremony of an aluminum plant in Turkey's industrial province of Kocaeli.

The global economy and trade narrowed by 3.3% and 8.5%, respectively, he added.

Touching on Turkey's performance in 2020, he said despite the turbulent times, the country posted a GDP growth of 1.8%.

The demand for investment did not go down during the pandemic period, and in fact, increased, the minister said.

Last June, industrial production reached pre-pandemic levels in Turkey, Varank said.

He added that the country's exports in the second half of 2020, matched the same period in 2019.

He said the industrial sector generated 392,000 additional employment during the pandemic.

In 2021, industrial production also posted a significant increase of 12.3% in the first quarter, he said.