Financeline

Nestle reassures Turkey on baby milk safety:

ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News

Nestle Türkiye Director of Corporate Communications Serhat Oran issued a statement reassuring Turkish consumers that no baby milk of the type subject to recall in Italy this week is on shelves in this country. Nestle recalled some 2 million liters of its ITX (Isopropylthioxanthone) brand baby milk after ink was found to have passed through the packaging. The tainted product came from a plant in Spain and, though it posed no real health risks, Nestle recalled all of the baby milk. “Thus, consumers have no cause for concern related to any Nestle dairy products in Turkey,” said Oran.

Cottonseed producers to be protected, says Şener:

ANK - Turkish Daily News

State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdüllatif Şener addressed the members of TARİŞ, the cotton and oilseed producers union, at a meeting at Ankara's Midi Hotel, telling them that agricultural policy would be formulated so as to protect their interests. Agricultural policy must take top priority in a country where one in three of the rural population works in agriculture, said the minister. “We are not looking at products one by one but rather at the sector as a whole,” said Şener, adding that they would do all to formulate policy in accordance with the needs of the producers and that, in a short time, Ankara would be able to elaborate on its agricultural policies for the coming years.

Italians briefed on privatization plans:

ANK - Turkish Daily News

The head of Turkey's privatization agency, Metin Kilci, briefed members of the Italian trade delegation accompanying Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi on his state visit this week, giving them an overview of Ankara's plans on selling off further state assets. Kilci made his presentation at the Sheraton Hotel in Ankara in a session closed to the press. The Italians learned of plans to privatize electricity distribution, state banks, toll roads and bridges, plastics producer PETKİM and ports and harbor operations. Kilci said that in the past three years Ankara has sold off 70 companies worth some $18 billion, compared with total privatization receipts of $8 billion during the previous 20 years. Kilci promised that the Treasury would be announcing news of the pending sale of Halkbank within one or two weeks.

Izmir official candidate to host Expo 2015:

ANK - Turkish Daily News

The Foreign Ministry has accepted the duty of promoting Izmir as an official candidate to host Expo 2015, the kind of “World Fair” that has a history of 150 years, dating back to the exhibition at London's Crystal Palace under Queen Victoria. The host of EXPO 2015 must agree to hold the fair open for at least three months to at most six months and devote 1.5 million square meters to the project.