The Turkish finance minister said on Sunday that Turkey "still needed to carry out a series of reforms."

Meeting with a group of Turkish businessmen in the French city of Orleon, Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said, "once Turkey implements these reforms, it will grow faster and investments will get more valuable".

Pointing to the major political and economic transformation process Turkey had gone through lately, Simsek said, "Turkey has made a remarkable progress in becoming a more prestigious and effective political and economic actor by activating its potential which was once only written on paper".

Describing Turkey's objective of becoming one of the top 10 economies of the world and top 3 economies in Europe in the next 30-40 years, Simsek said such goal was a realistic estimation.

Simsek said his country had a dynamic and young population which provided it a significant position in the long term.

Noting that the reforms carried out recently made Turkey stronger and more competitive, Simsek said reforms would continue and the country would preserve its unity and political stability.

Commenting on the importance of competitiveness, the finance minister said foreign investments strengthened Turkey's performance as well as its competition environment.

Simsek also said that Turkey caught up with Europe in many areas thanks to the numerous reforms it had implemented.

After completing his talks in France, Simsek is expected to return to Turkey on Monday.


AA