Dinçer: Impossible To Stay Afloat While Stuck In Middle Income Trap

It is almost impossible for an economy to stay sound and resilient against external shocks or internal problems while it is beleaguered by a middle income trap and an obstinate current account deficit, the head of Turkey's top business club has said.

The chairman of the Turkish Association of Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (TÜSİAD), Haluk Dinçer, has argued that the only way for Turkey to combat the troubles it is facing is to invest in science, technology and education.

Speaking in İstanbul at the TÜSİAD STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Summit, organized by Samsung, Dinçer asserted that only countries investing in individuals in the science and technology field have a chance of attaining a sustainable growth rate in the long term, and that the development potential of economies is directly related to their production and innovation capacities.

“Our most significant impetus for sustainable growth and development is our human resources and it is estimated that the workforce will reach 65 million by 2041. Therefore, as we see this is coming, it is imperative to put more weight on education as education is the core element of development,” he said.

Dinçer complained about the low rankings Turkey has in mathematics and science education compared to developed nations, and said that more resources must therefore be funneled to this area to close the gap. “We certainly have to train creative individuals with analytical thinking abilities,” he underlined.

TÜSİAD board member Esin Güral Argat also delivered a speech at the program, noting that Turkey is in 56th place on a list of 144 countries in the area of innovation, which she said implies very bad performance. While this backwardness in innovation continues, there is no chance of getting rid of the middle income trap, said Argat, and asserted that an economy must produce in order to keep up with the world's cutthroat competition and this requires developing new and more effective production techniques and models.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)