PRESS RELEASE 
EMBARGO  
NOT FOR PUBLICATION, OR DISTRIBUTION BY NEWS AGENCIES UNTIL 
1500 GENEVA TIME ( 1400 GMT)  19 DECEMBER 2003  
 
PRESS/TPRB/225 
19 December 2003 
 
(03-6659) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: TURKEY 
Continued reforms needed to improve economic performance 
Turkey’s economic reforms could be strengthened  by continued structural adjustment, including 
privatization, and by the improvement of its multilateral commitments, both in goods and services. 
These would enhance its ability to attract foreign investment and the predictability of its trade 
regime, according to a report on the trade policies and practices of Turkey released 19 December by the WTO Secretariat. 
 
The report says that since 1998, Turkey has implemented four stabilization programmes but they are yet to show full and sustainable effects. The economic situation remains fragile and the 
country’s vast potential for attracting investment remains largely untapped, in part because of 
politico-economic instability, high external indebt edness, slow progress in the implementation of 
its privatization programme and restrictions on foreign direct investment.  
 
The report also calls for further simplification of the tariff which remains complex, and the extension of the binding commitments to ensure furt her integration of Turkey into the multilateral 
trading system. 
 The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government of Turkey, will be the basis for 
the third Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Turkey by  the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 17 
and 19 December 2003.  
The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp225e.htm  
 
• Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  > Economic environment  
> Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  > Trade policies by sector  
> Appendix tables  
• Government report  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  PRESS/TPRB/225 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 • Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents 
are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 
Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews   
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly 
Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States  
Next reviews: 
United States : 14 and 16 of January 2004 
Gambia : 4 and 6 of February 2004 
Sri Lanka : 3 and 5 of March 2004 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
END