Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at March 28th, 2008

Turkey has a rich potential for mining, according to TÜPRAG Metals Mining General Manager Mehmet Yılmaz. Yılmaz gave a speech at Dokuz Eylül University yesterday on “Turkey’s Gold and Metals Resources.”

He said gold mining could significantly contribute to the economy if the country’s reserves are used properly and efficiently, adding that Turkey has 6,500 tons of gold reserves. He said this was equal to $250 billion at current price levels and that when value added is considered, this value jumps to $800 billion. (more…)

Posted by meb at March 28th, 2008

Germany-based retailing giant Metro Group’s subsidiary, Metro Cash & Carry, has plans to open three new stores in Turkey this year.

Commenting on expectations for the company in 2008 at a press conference yesterday, Metro Cash & Carry Turkey General Manger Ergin stated that the financial crisis that began in the US had spread to the world and that Turkey will also be affected by it. Ergin said there had been a contraction in sales of non-food products, but for them the real crisis will begin when this spreads to food items, adding that the company had not yet observed the latter phenomenon. (more…)

Posted by meb at March 27th, 2008

Turkey’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007 reached $651 billion, in light of a new calculation system, Deputy Prime Minister Nazım Ekren said in Ankara yesterday.

Speaking at a meeting organized for the 11th anniversary of the Competition Authority, Ekren said national accounts due to be announced Monday will show that per capita income was about $9,000. (more…)

Posted by meb at March 27th, 2008

Hourly wages in the manufacturing sector increased by 9.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 over the same quarter of the previous year, according to a report released yesterday by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat).

The same report noted that earnings per worker in the manufacturing sector increased by 8.8 percent. (more…)

Posted by meb at March 27th, 2008

The İstanbul Jewelry Fair, one of the largest jewelry fairs in the world, opens its doors today with an all-time-high number of exhibitors at İstanbul’s CNR Exposition Center.
There are 1,166 firms participating in the fair as exhibitors, of which 642 are domestic companies and 524 foreign, hailing from 29 countries. The fair will run through March 30, with more than 30,000 sector professionals expected to visit. Last year, 31,761 people attended the fair, including 1,200 foreign professionals. (more…)

Posted by meb at March 27th, 2008

The only Turkish company rising in the world patent league, Arçelik, is now breaking new ground.   With a new system called Divide&Cool (DAC) – Divisible Cooling Technology, Arçelik, the leading company of one of Turkey’s biggest conglomerates, Koç Holding, and the only Turkish company in the world patent league, has managed to operate with one compressor per fridge split into seven sections around a kitchen. Through this system, some kitchen drawers are turned into deep freezers.

“We developed this brand new product after three years of research and development work. It will win through built-in kitchen products,” Arçelik’s General Manager Aka Gündüz Özdemir. (more…)

Posted by meb at March 26th, 2008

Turkish Highways Directorate General opened Wednesday a tender for construction of Gebze-Orhangazi-Izmir highway, including Izmit Gulf transition.

Within the framework of the project, an Izmit suspension bridge and by-ways will also be constructed. The directorate general had opened two international tenders for construction of the suspension bridge so far, however the tenders were cancelled. (more…)

Posted by meb at March 26th, 2008

As the benchmark IMKB-100 index of the Istanbul Stock Exchange has witnessed a 28.4 decline since the beginning of the year, largely due to the U.S.-based credit crunch, the stock value of local companies seems to have been swept away.

Adding to that the impact of the rise in exchange rates, the market value of Turkish companies trading in the stock exchange deteriorated by $90 billion down to $200 billion as of March 21, compared to $289.98 billion at the end of 2007. (more…)