"Turkey is developing into a globally competitive auto hub, largely under the radar. It has a huge domestic market and the government appears to be reforming the economy in a way investors find attractive, so its growth is likely to continue," said John Wormald, Director of Autopolis, an auto-industry consulting firm.
Auto exports are surging. Seven out of every 10 vehicles made in Turkey are exported. The USD 22 billion auto industry employs more than 230,000 workers, and accounts for 20 percent of Turkey's total exports, according to Deloitte, a financial-advisory firm.
Source: http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/sectors/Pages/Automotive.aspx
Speaking during a visit by a Canadian trade mission to Istanbul, Yilmaz Arguden, Head of the Turkish-Canadian Business Forum, said Canada and Turkey are considering signing a free trade deal (FTA) after Canada signs a FTA with the EU.
Peter van Loan, Canada’s Minister of International Trade, said that Turkey, with its strong economy and dynamic market of 72 million, has a key place in the global economy and that the question of a FTA between Turkey and Canada would be considered after Canada signs a FTA with EU. “Canada has great expertise in environmental technologies and energy industry, particularly in nuclear power plants,” said van Loan, noting that Canadian firms are interested in energy investments in Turkey.
Turkey’s State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan called for stronger trade relations between the two countries and invited Canadian energy companies to invest in Turkey, saying “Canadian firms are welcome to bid on Turkey’s nuclear energy projects.”
Source: http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/
Foreign visitors coming to Turkey between January-October has increased by 6.2 percent when compared to the same period of the previous year. The total number of visitors has reached nearly 26 million, the majority comprising of Germans, Russians and British. Foreign visitors preferred Turkey’s Mediterranean shores by a large margin, 34.1 percent, followed by Marmara and Aegean regions.
According to data made available by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Germany tops the list of countries with nationals visiting Turkey. Some 4 million Germans visited Turkey in the first ten months of 2010, corresponding to 15.3 percent of Turkey’s total foreign visitors. Almost 3 million Russians and 2.5 million Britons visited the country, corresponding to 11.5 percent and 9.9 percent respectively. Iran, Bulgaria, Holland, Georgia, France, Syria and Italy are the other countries ranking behind the first three in terms of numbers of citizens visiting Turkey.
Source: http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/sectors/Pages/WellnessAndTourism.aspx
The automotive industry is close to breaking a sector record for all-times sales this year, with an expected 735,000 passenger cars, said Ali Haydar Bozkurt, Chief Executive of Toyota Turkey. A total of 729,000 passenger cars were sold in Turkey in 2005, the previous record-setting year. The sector started the year 2010 with low expectations due to the economic crisis, Bozkurt told Anatolia news agency on Sunday in the southern Anatolian province of Adana. “We did not even set a target for 2009,” he said.
“Low interest rates in car loans helped the industry recover from the effects of the financial crisis and the markets started doing well without government support” added Bozkurt.
As 70 percent of passenger car sales in Turkey are made with bank loans, interest rates are vital for the industry, said the Toyota CEO. The low rates made automobiles much more accessible, he said.
Source: http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/sectors/Pages/Automotive.aspx
The Energy Market Regulatory Agency (EMRA) convened on Thursday at last to evaluate the applications, according to an Anatolia news agency story filed Sunday.
The EMRA decided to give a license to Tektug, a Turkish electricity company, for a 25MW wind power plant in Adiyaman, in southeast Turkey. On average, 1 MW of power can supply electricity to as many as 300 households per year.
“The EMRA will continue to distribute licenses to projects whose technical assessment is positive and which do not involve more than one application for the same region,” Anatolia news agency reported.
Over the next term, the regulator is expected to give the go-ahead to 27 projects with a total capacity of 1,343 MW. These investments may total between TRY 2.7 billion and TRY 3.2 billion.
In a previous statement, EMRA Chief Hasan Koktas said Turkey’s current wind energy capacity is at 1,200 MW and that 2011 will be a year of “mobilization” in the private sector’s wind energy investments.
Source: http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/sectors/Pages/Energy.aspx
The shares of Emlak Konut Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), a state-run property developer, and catering firm Do&Co, have started trading on the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE), with their executives ringing the opening bell together with ISE Chairman Huseyin Erkan.
“Next year, we expect the total volume of initial public offerings (IPOs) to reach TRY 10 billion,” said Erkan.
“We observed huge demand from foreign investors for Emlak Konut shares,” Erkan noted. Emlak Konut is the biggest company to hold an IPO this year and also the country’s largest REIT. It offered 25 percent of its shares to the public. “Emlak Konut ranks among the top five IPOs in Turkey,” said Erkan.
The total IPO volume this year has reached TRY 3.5 billion, while the volume of corporate bond issuances reached TRY 1 billion.
Source: http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/sectors/Pages/RealEstate.aspx
Recently released November data of the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) show that the Turkish economy is still on its strong growth track, a Goldman Sachs analysis indicates.
The 3-month average of PMI data reaching an average point of 53.6 shows that industrial production has increased by 2 percent in the last quarter, exceeding the previous quarter’s 1.2 percent.
The report supports Goldman Sachs’ early suggestion that the country will achieve 8.5 percent of GDP growth in 2010.
Source: http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/turkey/factsandfigures/Pages/Economy.aspx
Turkey’s Koc Holding has signed a partnership deal with the US-based energy company AES, in a bid to extend its operations in Turkey’s booming energy industry. Already active in the energy market with Tupras and Aygaz, Koc Holding’s partnership deal with AES covers up to USD 5 billion worth of investments in electricity generation.
Under the terms of the deal, AES acquired a 49 percent stake in Entek, a subsidiary of Aygaz, at a cost of USD 136.46 million. The partnership aims to become one of the top five electricity producers in Turkey over the next five years, by achieving an installed capacity of 3,000 MW, utilizing Turkey’s various renewable and non-renewable energy sources.
Source:
http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/infocenter/news/Pages/021210-koc-aes-partnership-turkish-energy-market.aspx
Germany-based Metro Group, one of Europe’s largest retailers, will continue to grow in Turkey. Having entered the Turkish market in 1990, Metro has invested over EUR 700 million in supermarkets and electronic retailers.
Horst Schneider, Director General of Metro Group's Asset Management Corporation said the company sees Turkey as a priority market, and that it will continue to expand in the country.
“As an international retailer, Metro operates in a large number of countries and Turkey is among the most attractive locations for our investments,” said Schneider, adding that the group will soon open new cash and carry markets in the country, followed by Media Markt and Real store openings.
French debt collection and credit insurance company Coface has announced plans to run its operations in the Middle East and Southeastern Europe from its Turkey office. Starting from 2011, Coface’s 13-year-old Turkish branch will also handle the company’s business in the countries surrounding Turkey.
“The dynamism of the Turkish economy and the companies in the country made Coface Turkey worthy of this responsibility,” said Coface Turkey’s Director General Belkis Alpergun, underlining Turkey’s high performance during the financial crisis, which the country has managed to turn into an opportunity.
As it prepares to run its regional operations from Turkey, Coface already has offices in 67 countries, controlling a portfolio worth over USD 500 billion.
Hilton is planning to boost its investments in Turkey with new hotels in the Central Anatolian province of Konya, as well as in other locations, according to a top company official.
“There will be five DoubleTree hotels under the Hilton brand open in Turkey within the next year,” said DoubleTree by Hilton Vice President Gary Steffen recently during a visit to the chain's IstanbuI-Moda location. “The Istanbul-Moda Doubletree by Hilton is the first hotel to be opened by any brand within the Hilton Worldwide organization on the Asian side of the city of Istanbul. So, this opening is extremely important for us, along with our network of other DoubleTree by Hilton hotels that are open or will soon open," said Steffen. Hilton Worldwide has had a presence in Turkey since 1955, with the iconic Hilton Istanbul.
Source: http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/sectors/Pages/WellnessAndTourism.aspx
Turkish-Italian joint venture Tofas will produce GM brand Opel/Vauxhall’s light commercial vehicle model Combo in Tofas’ Bursa plant in Turkey. According to an agreement signed between the Fiat Group and Opel, a new commercial vehicle model to be built on Fiat’s successful Doblo platform will be produced in Turkey. The vehicle, which will carry the Opel and Vauxhall brand names, will enter the European and other world markets, excluding North America, in early 2012.
The Opel/Vauxhall design team, along with Fiat’s own team in Turin and Tofas’ engineering and design teams in Bursa, will work in cooperation to design the vehicle. The deal to manufacture 250,000 vehicles will increase the number of brands produced by Tofas to five, including Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and Vauxhall.
Source: http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/infocenter/news/
The Turkish economy has dissociated itself, in a positive sense, from world economies, a monthly report by Deloitte Turkey has said.
According to the report, prepared by Deloitte economic consultant Murat Ucer, the Turkish economy and many other emerging economies dissociated themselves from other world economies based on their strong performance.
“Turkey must continue the economic momentum by continuing reforms. We believe that Turkey can reach figures of high growth by making reforms and strengthening its institutions,” Ucer's report said. “Turkey, we also believe, will achieve ‘investment grade’ status shortly.”
Source: http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/infocenter/
The conference, held in Istanbul on November 26, primarily focused on Southeast European developments of alternative sources of energy, including solar, wind and biogas.
“As the liberalization of Turkey continues, a strong interest from the private sector has developed. But there is also pressing interest for Turkey to fully utilize its renewable energy resources. Governments are backing high feed-in tariffs and legislation to promote interest from investors,” read the official statement from Popple.
Estimates suggest there is a profitable wind energy market in Turkey that could produce good returns and potentially surpass nuclear options in less than a decade, said Erol Demirer, CEO of Demirer Holding.
Bungo Ezawa, head of Turkey’s Lahmeyer International Energy Branch, noted several positive aspects regarding other renewable energy sources, including solar energy.
“Turkey is absolutely comparable in terms of solar capability with southern Spain,” he said.
Source: http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/sectors/Pages/Energy.aspx
Committees from the two leading industry bodies TUBISAD, the Informatics Industry Association of Turkey, and NASSCOM, the premier trade body and the chamber of commerce of the IT industries in India, exchanged views and discussed ways to form partnerships between Turkish and Indian IT companies.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Huseyin Aslan, President of ISPAT, said that the strategically important IT industry directly affects the competitiveness of a country’s economy and that ISPAT’s efforts are geared toward presenting Turkey’s potential to global industry representatives. “The meeting with NASSCOM will serve as a starting point for future cooperation in the IT industry,” asserted Aslan.
Source: http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/
