Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at June 28th, 2008

Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay has stated that Turkey hosted 23.3 million tourists in 2007 and will this year aim to reach this figure by the end of August.

Participating in the Antalya Heading for 10 Millionth Tourist gala, which was organized by the Mediterranean Tourist Hoteliers Association (AKTOB) in Antalya on Thursday, Günay said: “Today one of our cities, Antalya, has made hosting 10 million tourists annually an easy target to achieve. This shows what a bright, successful and beautiful future Turkey will have.” (more…)

Posted by meb at June 27th, 2008

Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources minister announced on Thursday that Turkey is planning to construct its second nuclear power plant in the Black Sea city of Sinop

Hilmi Güler told reporters the tender for the construction of the power plant would likely be held in September. “The dimensions of the second nuclear power plant have not yet been determined, but it will not be smaller than the one to be town of Akkuyu,” Güler explained. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 27th, 2008

Grundig Elektronik, a Turkish television-set maker, aims to increase its market share to 5 percent with the Grundig brand and 15 percent with all of its brands and original design manufacturer sales by 2010 in Europe, said the general manager of Grundig Elektronik yesterday.

Grundig also plans to develop its product range by phasing out production of cathode-ray tube televisions by 2010 to focus on production of liquid-crystal display (LCD) televisions, Oğuzhan Öztürk added. “Our aim is to increase our turnover by 20 percent to reach YTL 1.7 billion in 2008. We will increase our television production volume from the current 3.2 million to 5.5 million by 2013, which comprises only sales of LCDs,” Öztürk told reporters at Grundig’s Beylikdüzü production plant in Istanbul. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 27th, 2008

The head of the International Investors Association (YASED) has stated that Turkey’s poor performance with respect to intellectual property rights (IPRs) and trademark protection is impacting foreign investment in the country.

YASED President Tahir Uysal told the Anatolia news agency there is social resistance to the issue of intellectual property rights and that Turkish lawmakers and law enforcement officials have a lack of awareness on this issue that is an extension of this resistance. “For instance, when you ask in a survey, ‘Do you want the people who sell counterfeited products to be punished?’ you get 60 percent ‘yes,’ but 40 percent of the people interviewed still say that such people should not be punished,” he noted. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 24th, 2008

Foreign visitor attraction to Turkey’s tourism center of Antalya continues to grow, leading to full hotel occupancy even at the beginning of the summer season, Mediterranean Tourism Hotels Union (AKTOB) Chairman Sururi Çorabatır has said.

Tourism growth has seen a remarkable acceleration in the last five months, and this growth continued in June, Çorabatır said, adding: “Antalya hotel occupancy rates are at the highest levels. Even finding a single room is difficult. We expect high occupancy to continue until mid-October.” The chairman underlined that seasonal occupancy rate peaks had already been reached: “Antalya has entered high-occupancy season. Not only five-star hotels, but other accommodation facilities are also expected to reach 100 percent occupancy soon.” (more…)

Posted by meb at June 24th, 2008

Volkswagen, the world’s fifth-largest automotive producer, may invest more than 1 billion euros within the next few years to start production in Turkey, said the chairman of Doğuş Otomotiv, VW’s distributor in Turkey.

Volkswagen will come to Turkey sooner or later, said Aclan Acar, who met with various newspapers’ economy desk chiefs last Friday just before the opening of the Doğuş Meiller Damper Factory. Doğuş Holding Chairman Ferit Şahenk was also present at the event to comment further on the group’s investment plans. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 24th, 2008

Amplio Real Estate Investment and Development Company, which was established with the objective of building 20 Hilton Garden Inn Hotels and Hampton Inn hotels with a total investment of $300 million, has decided to expand its business.

Amplio Company, which was satisfied with the potential in Turkey, increased its building objective to 40 hotels and its investment target to $1 billion. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 20th, 2008

The Oxford Business Group will hold its 16th Business Roundtable with the Turkish government on June 25, 2008, at the Hyatt Hotel in İstanbul.

The meeting will bring government leaders and corporate decision makers together to discuss economic opportunities in Turkey. Organizers said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would be participating in the event, along with State Minister for the Treasury Mehmet Şimşek and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. (more…)