Fifty-three percent of the government's action plan for the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) was completed in the three months after the plan was launched, Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for Foreign Trade Nazım Ekren disclosed yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference in Mardin to announce the results of the first three months of the GAP action plan, Ekren said the government had allocated YTL 1.9 billion to the GAP project this year, adding that 53 percent of this fund had already been used for investments in the region. "We believe southeastern Anatolia will prosper rapidly thanks to the investments," Ekren said. He noted that the GAP project is well poised to attract foreign investors to the region and that it is expected to supply jobs for nearly 3 million people in the region once it is finished.

Ekren stated that the government will need a total of TL 26.7 billion -- the TL will replace the YTL on Jan. 1, 2009 -- to continue the project until the end of 2012, adding that TL 7.3 billion of this will come from the budget.

"We expect to transfer TL 14.5 billion to the project from privatization and unemployment funds, and the rest will be supplied by the help of private entrepreneurs," he explained. Ekren said the government will carry out joint projects with the private sector in the GAP region.

Furthermore, the minister noted that as part of the GAP project, the government has spent YTL 510 million on establishing infrastructure, YTL 460 million for social development and YTL 37.2 million on economic development. The money was used in the education, health, agriculture, irrigation, energy and transportation sectors, as well as increasing employment in the region.

Ekren noted that by the end of 2008, inpatient bed availability will be increased by 920 thanks to the latest investments in the health field. "Also 15 new kindergartens and 643 new classes will be in service," he noted, addressing the education investments. He added that the number of newly constructed houses built by the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ) will reach 27,100 by the end of this year. Ekren also noted that people will be able to follow the GAP developments via the Internet, adding that they will put up videos and photos of the region.

Ekren said the government contemplated building "centers of attraction" in Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Gaziantep, Trabzon and Sivas before the end of this year -- as a move to enhance the prosperity of these cities. One will be built Diyarbakır, he noted, explaining that that they chose the city as a pilot area. "The Supreme Planning Board [YPK] will approve the issue within a week," he said.

Ekren stated that the government has decided to establish three more development agencies in southeastern Anatolia, increasing the number of total agencies to 10. Ekren said they will introduce new incentive packages for the GAP region, bringing in extra money to the region. The government is currently meeting with investors from the Gulf who plan to invest $3 billion in the GAP project, he said, adding that this would take the total amount of investment in the project to $9 billion.

Mentioning the ongoing global financial turmoil, Ekren noted that the government will focus on taking the necessary measures to provide financial stability. "We will take initiatives within the framework of our fiscal policy to withstand the negative effects of the crisis," he said.

At the end of May, the government launched its long-awaited plan for GAP, now scheduled for completion by 2012. The government described its action plan to boost social and economic development in the Southeast as "a turning point for Turkey."

First initiated in 1977, GAP was intended to resolve agricultural and economic challenges facing the region but had become mired in neglect and financial difficulties.

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