ISTANBUL
Planned to be the most advanced children's hospital in Turkey, "Bio Istanbul" was a "world-class project", said Erdogan Bayraktar, the Turkish Minister of Environment and Urban Planning.
"Close to 20,000 people will work in this establishment," said Bayraktar, speaking at a meeting in the project's sales office in Istanbul. "We believe that many doctors and professors of Turkish origin living abroad, who wish to return to Turkey, will come back and continue their research here."
The hospital will feature the most high-tech biomedical R&D park, ecological buildings, as well as offices and social facilities.
"This project will increase Turkey's brand value in the health sector," Bayraktar said.
Also addressing the gathering, Turkish Minister of Health Mehmet Muezzinoglu said the 2.2 billion dollar project, undertaken by Bio City Development Company and a subsidiary of Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKI), is expected to further raise standards for health services in the country.
"75 million people in Turkey, regardless of their economic or social status, are able to access health services in a fair way," Muezzinoglu said. "We have reached a point where we can be proud of the quality of service we offer."
Muezzinoglu said they hoped to establish a similar medical complex in the Anatolian side of Istanbul in 2-3 years.
