This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Turkey

10th January 2014

Turkey: an economic miracle?

Bb7-qhkIAAAo-piWho is referring to Turkey as one of “The next economic giants”?
 
The answer is Jim O’Neill, the British economist famous for inventing the term “BRIC” – for Brazil, Russia, India and China – in 2001 as the next big thing in the world economy.  Since then, these economies have grown strongly.
 
Now Jim O’Neill has coined a new acronym: the MINT countries, ie Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria  and Turkey.  You can listen to his 45-minute radio programme about Turkey free on the BBC podcast page (look for “MINT: The Next Economic Giants”).  More background on the “MINT” phenomenon is in a Guardian article of 10 January.
 
Jim O’Neill is the opposite of a starry-eyed optimist.  On the contrary, he is (like me) a Mancunian and a long-suffering Manchester United supporter.  Yet his programme talks about Turkey’s world class companies and the country’s “economic miracle”.  It refers to the MINT countries as part of the future not the past.  And it says there is every chance that these countries could join the ranks of the world’s top 10 economies.  He also compares Kayseri to both Manchester and to Switzerland. 
 
Jim O’Neill also says that, like all countries, each of the MINT economies has problems which need resolving to liberate their potential; and that some will face a “roller-coaster ride”.  In the case of Turkey, he notes the challenge of political stability.  Conversely, much of the potential of these countries is based on demographic profile – something which is comparatively easy to predict with confidence.
 
At a time of turbulence in Turkish politics, I continue to be an optimist about this country’s long-term economic future.  As I noted in an earlier blog, Turkey has much to be confident about – including its ability to control its own destiny.  Now, Jim O’Neill gives us a fascinating glimpse of just how great Turkey’s future could be.

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.