Turkey reached an agreement with the World Bank for $200 million in funding for public sector energy efficiency investments, Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said yesterday.

"Local municipalities and public institutions via ILBANK will use the long-term finance provided with low interest rate," Dönmez stated.

Speaking at 5th Extraordinary General Assembly of the Energy Efficiency Association, Dönmez declared that energy efficiency is the key to lowering consumption, which in turn will enable a cleaner environment.

"Energy efficiency is a common target for the whole country to ensure less energy imports and a better economy," he said. "We saved $122 million thanks to energy efficiency investments in 2017 and prevented $500 million worth of gas imports."

Turkey plans investments of around $11 billion for energy efficiency projects in all related sectors by 2023 in line with the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan announced earlier this year.

The country foresees savings of $30 billion by 2033 thanks to these investments.