Sl/i^ 13 MAY 1988 MEED 29

nation has made —including the personal law for the proiect since the scheme was first secondoffour 175-MW units attheAltinkaya which enshrines female emancipation. The included in DHMI's budget in 1976. The hydroelectric stationhas also started up. rn limitation on religious-based parties is seen as a latest bids will be opened on 23 May. threat to the Mouvement de Tendance Islamique • Japancould increase its investment through In 1987, 's Thomson-CSF was (MTI), the largest Islamic group, which has been the southeast Anatolia development scrutinising President Ben All's moves towards awarded a letter of intent, which was programme and four planned free trade zones, political pluralism. However, officials have said subsequently rescinded (MEED 29:8:87). according to a communique issued at the end ot the new law, passed on 28 April, allows for MTI The cost of the scheme about to be a |oint economic committee meeting in Tokyo on participation. tendered will be around TL 60,000 million 28 April The twosides have agreed to sign an ($47 million). investment guarantee and double-taxation pact. • President Ben Ah announced furthersteps on DHMI officials say that three Japanese Tokyosays full Turkish membership of the EEC 1 May to reunite the divided trades union would enhance bilateral relations. movement. Acommission is to be set up prior to companies so far have said they willreturn the Union Generale des Travailleurs Tunisiens tenders: Sumitomo Corporation, NBC • TheAegean Exporters'Union says itexpects (UGTT) holding an extraordinary congress, and C Itoh &Company. Alsoexpected to a record. 150.000-tonneolive crop in the new season. has an estimated 83 million olive bringing together supporters of former leaders tender are Thomson-CSF. 's Selenia, Habib Achour and Abdelaziz Bouraoui (MEED and the US' Hughes Aircraft Company. trees. 22:4.88). Habib Tliba will chair the commission. Bidders are being asked to provide 100 • Atotal 52,422 vehicles were produced in the firstquarter of 1988 — 25 per cent up on per cent financing. The project comprises January-March 1987 The biggest increase was the supply of three-dimensional radar and m truck cabs, followed by buses and minibuses. associated equipment. The value ot vehicle exports totalled $32.3 TURKEY million, against $21.8 million the year before. Mixed performance by SEEs • Most ofthe foreign banks inthe countryhave Doubts over metro State Economic Enterprises (SEEs) have announced good results for their local project had a mixed performance over the past operations. All made profitsand fewhave large Doubts are being expressed by local fouryears during Prime Minister Turgut outstanding debts. Thiscontrasts withthe large contractors about whether the government Ozal's first term inoffice, according to the non-performing debt portfoliosof many Turkish central bank's 1987 annual report. Overall, banks. Foreign banks' credit volume increased will approve a start on the Ankara metro by 18 per cent in 1987, accounting for33 per proiect in 1988. Rebids were recently the pressure on the budget of SEEs has decreased, however. cent oftheirtotalassets, according to a survey returned for the scheme; the lowest comes quoted in the Ankara daily Ebanewsletter. The from ABBAsea Brown Boverl with the In its first term the government pledged to foreign institutionwiththe largest profits was local Yapi Merkezi, at $345 million. rationalise and streamline the SEEs, long Bank of BahrainAKuwait,the survey says. regarded as industrial dinosaurs plagued The other bids are: by overmanning, poor management and • AtotalTL 74.000million ($31.2million) has been allocated fromthe extra-budgetary Public • Bouygues (France) and Sezai Turkes- obsolescence. One way of doing so would FeyziAkkaya (local) —$437 million Partnership Fund tothestate Hydraulics Agency be through privatisation. (DSI) to supplement the latter's budget. Its • Inerinfra (France) withEnka (local) — State subsidies were cut and some development expenditure allocation for 1988 $438 million monopolies breached. However, the SEEs has been reduced to TL 1 6 million($675 • Urban Transit Development were given some autonomy to set their own million), of which around one-third willfund work Corporation (Canada) and Gama and prices, according to their free-market on the Ataturk dam scheme, in the southeast. Gun's (both local) —$440 million perceptions. The dam is also getting the largest share ofthe The organisations' profits have increased supplementary funds of the 11 dams and • (West ) with Kutlutas hydroelectric plants benefiting from the transfer, (local) —$528 million. in lira terms by 31 per cent to TL 1,048,701 receiving TL 20,800 million ($8.7 million). J The bids are all heavily discounted; much million($840.7 million)compared with • The |oint-venture United Turkish GulfBank may depend also on the amount of 1984. However, over the same period their has opened intemporary premises in . It participation required by the municipality exports have decreased by about 6 per cent to $1,628 million. was set up last year between local and Gulf in the build-operate bids. More serious interests, and has a nominal capital of TL 8,000 could be opposition in the government to The percentage of SEE transfers from million ($3.3 million). The main partners are the borrowing forany more large projects, total consolidatory budget expenditures local TurkiyeGarantlBankasl and Dogus even build-operate schemes, which do not dropped to 3.5 per cent in 1987 from 12.8 Investment, withAlAhli Bank of Qatar (MEED involve the government in direct per cent in 1982. Over the same period, 6:5:88). their employees increased by 11.6 per responsibility for ensuring construction • The budget deficit reached TL 347,000 cent to 735,817. repayment. While the municipality is million ($150 million) at the end of the first pressing forward with tender evaluation, SEE profits on the whole rose in the first quarter of 1988, Finance & Customs Minister the treasury is dragging itsfeet, analysts three years of Ozal's first term. However, Ahmed Alptemucin says. Tax collection say. because price increases were postponed increased by 63.3 per cent. The target forthe The metro's first stage will run for 15 during the election year of 1987, the profits full-year budget deficit is around TL 2.5 million kilometres from the city centre to the declined by 6.7 per centcompared with million ($1,034 million). suburb of Batikent. It includes a three- the previous year. In the 1988 economic • Afrigate builtinWest Germany forthe navy kilometre underground section, 12 stations programme, the SEEs are targeted to arrived at the Goloukbase on 2 May. The Turgut and several underground shopping make a gross profit of TL 4.8 million million Reis is 110 metres long and weighs 2,800 arcades. The total system, forcompletion ($19.8 million), based on costs of TL 19.8 tonnes. Construction started in 1985. by2015, will be 55 kilometres long. million million ($15,569 million), and sales • Parliamentarypolitical parties have budgeted Consultant is Canada's ReidCrowther ofTL 24.6 million million ($19.3 million). spending of TL 12,000 million($9.4 million)in International with the local Kutlutas 1988, according to the semi-official Anatolia Muhendistik. IN BRIEF news agency. The three parties benefiting are: • The largest ship to be built in Istanbul's the ruling Motherland Party (ANAP), with an Pendik shipyard, the 26,300-dwt dry cargo allocation of TL 8,692 million($6.8 million);the Radar system rebid again carrier Ziema Gornoslaska. was launched in main opposition Social Democratic Populist Rebids are being invited yet again fora mid-April. It has been built at a cost of $16 million Party (SHP)withTL 2,500 million ($1.9 million); civilian radar system, says the State for . and the True Path Party (TPP), which has the Airports Directorate (DHMI). There have remainder. ANAP plans to spend TL 5,941 • The 300-MW Cayirhan thermal power plant million($4.6 million)on the building of a new been five rounds of inconclusive bidding has started up after successful trial runs. The party headquarters.