Ukraine will offer significant opportunities during its reconstruction, with a total project pool reaching upward of $50 billion for Turkish firms to take part in, according to Eyüp Vural Aydın, chair of the Public-Private Partnership Research Center (KOI).
Infrastructure investments typically target both stable markets and those that have lost their stability and are undergoing reconstruction, Aydın said. "One of these is Ukraine, and the other is Syria for Türkiye to take part in," he told Anadolu Agency (AA).
"Private sector development in Ukraine already began before the war – they first received training on the public-private partnership (PPP) model from Türkiye in 2017."
Aydın said global financial institutions are giving tremendous support to Ukraine in the recovery process.
"With the end of the war, major infrastructure investments into Ukraine will start – right now, there's a need for almost everything in this country: schools, hospitals, dormitories, kindergartens, bridges, roads, buildings, and all sorts of infrastructure," he stated.
"All this can’t be built with public resources, which is why the build-operate-transfer (BOT) method is key in investments in Ukraine over the next 10 to 15 years."
He revealed that Ukraine passed a new BOT law just a month ago, laying out a roadmap for post-war reconstruction projects.
"Turkish firms have been operating in Ukraine for 30 years, and many key Turkish firms are involved in the major infrastructure projects in the country to date. Ukraine will need private sector financing and capabilities, and capacity, in dozens of projects to be carried out," he said.
"This is one of the important time windows of opportunity in the next decade in the Ukrainian market."
Aydın noted global organizations have already provided up to $7.5 billion in financing to Ukraine's development, with expectations that this figure could increase by as much as four times. Sectors expected to benefit most from this funding include housing, transportation, energy, trade, industry, and education.
"Europe will provide Ukraine with cheaper credit for its redevelopment efforts, and to get access to these cheap loans, Turkish firms absolutely have to collaborate with global firms," he said.
"They should establish consortia and partnerships with Korean, Japanese, European, Canadian, British and American firms and plan how to access cheaper credit."
Aydın added that Syria's stabilization and the reconstruction efforts in the country also present tremendous infrastructure investment opportunities for Turkish firms. He emphasized that regional cooperation is the number one factor enabling trade, peace, security, development, and progress.
"We can’t leave Syria alone in this region – this region also needs economic and political stability," he said. "Syria will play a key role in the regional development, and in fact, Syria's case may have pioneered the Gulf region's joint action, as the region came together for its development."
