TÜSIAD

GOES TO WASHINGTON

A TÜSIAD delegation visited Washington D.C. and New York between November 17 and 22. Led by the chairman of TÜSIAD Higher Advisory Council, Mr. Bülent Eczacibasi and the current chairman of the board, Mr. Muharrem Kayhan, the delegation met with high officials of the Clinton administration.

The two chairmen also gave public presentations at the CSIS, the Carnegie Endowment and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington and at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. In the presentations, TÜSIAD's views on the current economic and political situation in Turkey were presented. On all occasions the exchange after the initial presentations covered a very wide range of issues, including the, then, burning issue of Iraqi lack of cooperation with UNSCOM and the possible American response.

The delegation also had occasion to share its views and discuss matters concerning Turkey with senior members of the Washington press corps and Congressional staffers from both parties. The delegation met with World Bank officals to discuss the economic stabilization package that the Turkish government was discussing with international financial institutions.

In New York the TÜSIAD team met with the top executives of financial institutions and had a lively exchange with them about Turkey's prospects should the stabilization programme be implemented, in the wake of the fallout in Asian countries. As part of their schedule members of the delegation also met with editors the of Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Business Week.

The aim of the visit was to introduce TÜSIAD to opinion makers and policy makers in Washington D.C. and New York . TÜSIAD is interested in the improvement of the relations between the US and Turkey and in the development of relations along dimensions other than security.

TÜSIAD was encouraged by the reception the delegation has received and the fruitful nature of its exchanges with different interlocutors and will entertain the possibility of opening a representative office in the US to put these relations on a more permanent footing.