H.E. Anvar Ibrahim, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
H.E. Yoriko Kawaguchi, Former Foreign Minister of Japan
Excellencies,
Dear Guests,
Ladies and Gentleman,

It is a great pleasure to be here and address such a distinguished audience.

I am here today to share with you my views as to where Asia today is heading and Turkey’s policies and priorities towards the region. First, I would like to thank the organizers, namely Boğaziçi University Asian Studies Center, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and the Japanese Studies Association for inviting me as keynote speaker of this international symposium.

Please allow me also to express my special thanks to the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, which has been one of Japan’s leading private foundations working in the international domain. I am confident that, under the leadership and guidance of Mr. Hanyu, the Foundation will continue to support similar symposiums and activities to promote international exchange, cooperation and understanding.

Dear Guests,

The world is approaching a turning point of truly historic proportions with an unprecedented speed. Asia lies at the epicenter of this global change, and “the Asian reality” has created a new state of affairs in world geopolitics.

The rapid modernization and expansion of Asian economies is acknowledged as one of the most impressive developments in the economic history of the world.

The driving force behind this momentous change is nothing but information technologies, innovations, mass production and creative ideas.

Asia has become a center of attraction. Western travel agencies are in race to send their customers to the glamorous cities and resort places in Asia.

We hardly see any big western company which does not have a branch or headquarters in this ever-booming and ever-expanding Asian markets.

In the last 20 years we all witness new cities, new hi-tech roads, new bridges, new factories and new grandiose universities are rising in the heart of Asia.

Asia is on the rise once again, and this fact is one of the defining characteristics of the 21st century.

Center of economic and political gravity is also gradually shifting towards Asia.

The majority of the world's fastest growing economies are in Asia.

We acknowledge this phenomenon as an “Asian renaissance”.

Today, the region is characterized by self-confidence.

It was not until 1980 that any investor in the West woke up to a day with a primary focus on the Asian Stock Exchange news.

This has dramatically changed over the course of last 30 years. Today, any change in the indexes of Hang Seng, Nikkei or ASX can impact decisions of Dow Jones, NASDAQ, FTSE investors.

Though the Asian states constitute one of the most diverse regions of the world, it also represents a group of countries that is increasingly interdependent and aware of common interests.

Particularly since the devastating Asian financial crisis in 1997, these countries have been strengthening their regional alliances and interactions.

In fact, the increasing interdependence is the answer to those who assert that economic and political rise of Asia Pacific nations will be a threat to the global balance of power.

Dear Participants,

The Atlantic was once the center of the global economy with Asia and the Pacific at the periphery, now this is being turned on its head.

Asia is becoming a game-changer of the global order.

The focus of the all global powers and rising powers, including Turkey, is shifting to the Asia-Pacific region.

The rise of Asia or the dawning of Asian miracle is definitely not by accident.

Just look at how far the region has come.

The spectacular economic rise of Asia Pacific has led many to describe the phenomenon as “the Asian miracle”.

Japan and Asian dragons, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, doubled their incomes every eight years between 1960 and 1985.

I would like to give one particular example from Malaysia. Since its independence, Malaysia managed to transform itself from an agricultural and low income nation to a modern industrial upper income country. Its GDP has increased more than a hundredfold. A 7 % annual average growth rate has been reached. Poverty rates have fallen from 49% to less than 4%. GDP Per-capita has risen from US$370 to around US$10,000.

Besides, these accomplishments which have already made Malaysia one of the leading country of its region, it set a goal of achieving developed nation status by 2020, which seems ambitious but definitely realistic and reachable.

Today, Asia’s share of world GDP jumped from 20 to 30 %, living standards rose six folds, and an half billion people pulled themselves out of poverty.

Asian Development Bank forecasts that the Asian share in the world GDP will scale up to 51% by mid-century.

This means that, nearly 3 billion more people will be lifted out of poverty in the next 35-40 years.

World Bank statistics shows that China's economy has grown 10 times in the last 30 years. IMF predicts that in purchasing power parity terms, China’s economy may surpass that of the United States by 2016.

This is a grandiose economic and social change, which deeply influences supply-demand, export-important and credit-finance equation of the world economy.


These figures themselves display that the peace and prosperity of Asia for decades ahead is not only critical for Asia itself but it is now equally critical for the global economy as well.

More recently, during the dark days of the global financial crisis, it was Asia that kept the flame alive, accounting for about two-thirds of global growth.

If the potential is harnessed fully through appropriate policies and a strategic vision, Asia will certainly play a far greater role in world affairs.

This is more evident than ever in the economic integration efforts that are gaining pace in parallel with the evolving political/security environment in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), whose 19th round of negotiations were held in Brunei between 22-30 August 2013, is a notable example of this process. Accordingly, TPP leaders, during their recent summit meeting in Bali on October 8th, reiterated their commitment to conclude the TPP process in large part by the end of this year.

Likewise, the Regional Economic Partnership (RCEP), which envisages a free trade agreement between ASEAN and its 6 regional free-trade partners (China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand), launched negotiations on 20 November 2012 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to form the largest regional trading agreement in the world.

At this point, it should also be noted with importance that Japan is also “coming back”, as Prime Minister Abe puts it. As the third largest economy in the world, Japan is still one of the biggest powerhouses not merely of Asia but also the whole world.

Japan’s economic engagement and integration with the rest of Asia will remain essential especially in the protection and promotion of universal values such as freedom, democracy and basic human rights. Such an economic integration has also proved instrumental for Japan’s economic revitalization efforts. This is something good for the economic partnership networks in Asia as none of these networks could be complete without Japan.

Japan’s recent participation in the TPP negotiations was definitely the most strategic development for the TPP process, which is meant to be the most ambitious and comprehensive free trade agreement of the world.

The start of FTA negotiations between Japan and the EU last April, coupled with a Political Agreement process between the parties, is also important to reinforce EU’s economic and political engagement with Asia.


Dear Guests,

Despite its rise and the immense potential, it should be said that Asia is far from risk free.

Economic and political choices have also had a dramatic impact on the environment in the Asia-Pacific.

In the coming years, combating poverty and managing migration into overburdened megacities will continue to challenge most of the Asia-Pacific countries.

Furthermore, there has been rapid urbanization throughout the region that led to new demographic challenges.

Last but not the least, the world's fastest growing economies, the fastest rising military expenditures, the fiercest resource-allocation competitions and the most serious hot spots can all be seen in Asia.

The Korean nuclear issue; the Taiwan Straits; the East China Sea; the South China Sea; the Thai/Cambodian border; Myanmar’s civil conflicts in its border areas could be mentioned as some examples.

Dear Participants,

Turkey has a special place in Asia-Pacific, as it is also an Asian country among its many vocations. We have historic, linguistic and religious ties with a wide range of countries along the ancient Silk Road.

In line with its multi-dimensional foreign policy and in view of the growing economic and political significance of Asia-Pacific, Turkey has put into effect policies geared towards opening-up to the region, which has gained considerable depth in recent years.

Our new Asia-Pacific Strategy is based on political, economic and people-to-people engagement with the countries in the region.

During the last decade, high-level bilateral visits have been intensified, which has resulted in increased trade and investments. We are working for the completion of the legal framework and the establishment of consultation mechanisms in our bilateral relations.

Moreover, Turkish Airlines has extended its destinations and flight frequencies in the region and TİKA (Turkish International Cooperation Agency) has increased its development projects, especially with regard to the LDC’s and the Pacific Island countries.

The relations with China, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan have been elevated to strategic levels in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively.

It is for sure that further expansion of economic, commercial and business relations with these countries will be integral in view of the implementation of the strategic partnerships with all their merits and deeds.

Free Trade Agreements (FTA) play an instrumental role to this end. Comprehensive FTAs will definitely constitute a sound and fertile basis for business and commercial relations to flourish in terms of volume, depth and diversity.

Turkey-South Korea Free Trade Agreement has already been put into force this year.

Likewise, the Turkish and the Japanese Governments share a common political will to further strengthen and enhance economic relations, particularly through the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA/FTA). The EPA process with Japan has been initiated last year, and now both sides are expected to announce the start of the official negotiations soon.

Japan is a long-standing partner of Turkey in key infrastructure and development projects. As a landmark project funded in large part by JICA, Marmaray undersea rail crossing across the Bosphorus is to be opened next week on October 29th. Turksat 4A and 4B satellites will be orbited soon. Moreover, İzmit Bay Bridge will be the fourth longest suspension bridge of the world. These examples were crowned by Sinop Nuclear Power Plant Project in which Japan was given the exclusive right of negotiations for the construction.

Such projects bring about far reaching and long lasting interaction among a wide range of sectors in the fields of services and industry as well as science, technology and training. We strongly believe that Sinop NPP project will have a multiplier effect on Turkey-Japan economic, commercial, scientific and technological relations, which are already driven by the time-tested friendship and solidarity between the two nations and Governments.

Education is one of the top priorities of the Turkish Government. As a country with a target of 25.000 USD per capita income, we are well aware that we need to take further steps in the area of education in a way that will enable and sustain improved innovation and R&D activities in Turkey. These are the key areas that we must achieve substantial progress in the years to come.

We are eager to enhance our cooperation with our Asian partners in the field of education, innovation and R&D. In this regard, I would like to mention a very important project that Turkey will undertake with Japan, namely the establishment of “Turkey-Japan University of Science and Technology”.

As for Southeast Asia, Turkey has strengthened its presence in the region by opening new Embassies as well. Turkish Embassies in Myanmar and Sri Lanka became operational in 2012, followed by Cambodia and Brunei this year.

We are also working on enhancing our relations with Malaysia. In fact, Turkey and Malaysia are natural allies in global politics. Indeed, the two nations have historical and cultural ties. However, due to the geographical distance, for a long time, the relations remained modest when the potentials of both are considered.

Since the beginning of 2000s, Turkey has reassessed its policy and intensified the interaction with the countries in the region. In this regard, together with Malaysia, we managed to increase our cooperation to higher levels in all fields. I believe we still have much more opportunities ahead and very fertile ground for it, which takes its power from our people.

Parallel to the efforts at the bilateral level, Turkey has also taken the necessary steps to develop its ties with the regional organizations including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

As a reflection of our desire to associate with as many different sub-regions of the Asia-Pacific as possible, Turkey became a party to the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in 2010. Our Ambassador to Jakarta has been accredited to ASEAN. Now our new goal is to establish Dialogue Partnership with the Organization.

Our membership to the ACD was finalized on the margins of the 68th UN General Assembly.

Turkey has also expressed its interest in participating in the activities of the ASEM. We are a natural candidate for membership to this platform which brings together Asian and European countries for dialogue and cooperation.

The PIF is another regional organization of which Turkey is a Development Partner. The next step is to become a Post-Forum Dialogue Partner.

On the other hand, Turkey has been holding the Chairmanship of the CICA since 2010, and this year we became a Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Dear Participants,

I want to conclude my speech with a Japanese proverb which can loosely be translated as “Where there is a will, there is a way”. "Naseba naru, nasanuba naranu nanigoto mo. Naranu wa hito no nasanu narikeri".

As I have emphasized earlier, Turkey has the will and the determination to enhance its relations with Asia and is showing the necessary effort for a more comprehensive cooperation with Asian countries.

No individual is too small to be part of Asia’s success. And no aspiration is too big. Asia’s dream belongs to all Asians.

As the region goes from success to success, I believe that Asia’s leadership in the global economy will go from strength to strength. And, we, as Turkey, wish to be a leading partner of this process.

Thank you.