ANKARA – Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund is in talks with international partners on a potential $10-billion petrochemical project in the country, CEO Arda Ermut said on Wednesday.
Ermut also said the Turkiye Wealth Fund was ready to use its mandate to invest abroad, when conditions are favourable, citing recent cooperation agreements with the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Hungary, Oman and most recently Bank of China.
It aims to establish joint vehicles with the partners to provide financing in those countries and in third markets, he told a meeting of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry.
At home, the fund has long been working on strategic sectors such as petrochemicals and conducted studies for a major project, he said.
“In petrochemicals, we are in contact with international companies. It is a project worth a total of $10 billion. This could move forward through a partnership structure or in the form of a cluster,” he added.
The TWF was established in 2016 to manage state-owned assets and make strategic investments to support economic development. It holds stakes across sectors including finance, energy, transport, telecommunications, and now also owns the country’s largest gold producer, Turkish Gold Mining.
Ermut also said TWF was working on an agreement with an international fund to invest in local companies with export potential.
(Reporting by Ebru Tuncay Writing by Ece Toksabay, editing by Andrei Khalip)
