TEPAV Economic Policy Analyst Esen Çağlar stressed that in which direction the function of OIZs in Turkey will be evolved was closely related to the country's industrial policy and efforts to tackle the high current account deficit.

Çağlar assessed: "Recently, the fiftieth anniversary of the Bursa Organized Industrial Zone (OIZ), Turkey's first OIZ, was celebrated. The fifty-year long adventure, which started with a World Bank loan in the process of the shift to a planned economy, played a major role in the industrial development of the country. Now, there is an OIZ in almost all provinces and everyone from industrialists to ordinary citizens knows where the OIZ of the province is located and what it looks like. The point about which we do not have an opinion is in which direction the function of OIZs in Turkey's economy should evolve. I believe that the answer to this question is closely related to the country's industrial policy and efforts to tackle the high current account deficit."

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