Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at July 27th, 2009

The İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) plans to hold a Turkish export goods fair in Qatar, in an effort to diversify Turkey’s export markets and create new business opportunities.

Releasing a written statement Sunday, İTO said more than 200 Turkish companies operating in sectors ranging from furniture to construction, cosmetics to food, will attend the fair, to be held in Qatar between Sept. 3 to 6 in a 15,000-square-meter exhibition area.

Commenting on the fair Sunday in İstanbul, İTO Chairman Murat Yalçıntaş said they were pleased to be holding a fair with such a wide range of products for the first time in Qatar, the rising star of the Gulf. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 27th, 2009

Turkey is making an effort to boost relations with the United Arab Emirates.

The Turkish ambassador to the UAE, Hakkı Akil, told the Anatolia news agency correspondent on Sunday that there had been great progress in military, economic and cultural relations between the two countries in the past seven years.

“Between 2002 and 2009, our country’s foreign trade volume rose 800 percent. Today it is worth $9 billion. United Arab Emirates is the third largest exporter for Turkey. Our business volume has also been enlarging non-stop. Turkish companies assumed projects worth $5.3 billion dollars in this country during the past three years,” he said.

Business volume between the two countries will continue to increase in the upcoming years, said Akil. These improved relations will not be just economy related, he said. Within the framework of memorandum of understanding signed by both countries, Middle East Technical University and Istanbul technical University are going to establish campuses in Abu Dhabi, the capital and the second largest city in the UAE, he said. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 27th, 2009

Neighboring Iran is slowly but surely opening up to the world, welcoming foreign investors with attractive incentives. Many Turkish companies are rediscovering Iran’s low costs and tax advantages, but some businesspeople fear the situation could develop into a transfer of investments from Turkey to Iran

Vehicles with Turkish license plates, people speaking Turkish and investment zones and incentives being created solely for Turks are just a few of the signs indicating that Iran is drawing closer to its northwestern neighbor.

The changing face of Iran brings both opportunities and risks for Turkey. As the country slowly opens its doors up to the world, investment opportunities create a new market for Turkish companies. But Iran’s attempts to draw Turkish companies with attractive incentives may divert investments there, as some Turkish firms contemplate moving to Iran altogether.

A 30-hour road trip that passes through Tokat, Erzurum, Erzincan and Ağrı takes a Turkish traveler from Istanbul into Iran through the Gürbulak border gate.

The change in Iran can be observed in figures: since 2002, the country has drawn $35 billion in foreign investment, attracting it mainly through incentives and changes to the law. The government has put great emphasis on foreign investments in the oil, natural gas and petrochemical sectors, among others, insures those who receive foreign-capital licenses so that an investor whose plant is shut down in an extraordinary situation such as a war would be paid back the amount of its investment. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 19th, 2009

The process involved in sale of homes to foreigners in Turkey is still full of problems for all sides. Various bureaucratic barriers and security investigations that take a long time are turning out to be quite expensive for Turkey in the end.

In Antalya alone, the spot in Turkey that sees the most real estate sold to foreigners, there are 2.5 billion euros of sales that are blocked annually for various reasons. The fact that permission often takes six months to come from the Aegean Army Command headquarters means that many foreigners simply give up on their plans to buy homes in the end. According to information provided by sector representatives, around seven out of 10 sales wind up being cancelled due to these factors. It appears that the wounds have still not healed from the experience of having the Turkish Constitutional Court render decisions on two different occasions to cancel permission for the sales of homes to foreigners. Now real estate agents are calling for the bureaucratic barriers blocking the sales of homes to foreigners in Turkey to be finally lifted, with hopes that this will help enliven the housing sales sector. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 18th, 2009

Germany’s RWE and EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg applied to bid for Turkish electricity distribution grids, Turkey’s Privatization Administration, or ÖİB, said in a statement Thursday.

RWE, ENBW and EWE were among 22 applicants who may place bids in a tender for Osmangazi Elektrik Dağıtım, a grid that serves the central cities of Eskişehir and Afyon, the ÖİB said in an e-mailed statement.

EWE may also bid for Yeşilırmak Elektrik Dağıtım, a grid covering northern Black Sea regions, along with 16 other applicants, and was one of 13 possible bidders for Çoruh Elektrik Dağıtım in the northeast of the country. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 18th, 2009

Turkey has lower prices than most European countries on food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, clothing, restaurants and hotels, but higher costs for personal transportation equipment and consumer electronics.

According to Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, goods and services purchased for 100 euros in the EU cost an average of 73 euros in Turkey. Eurostat’s comparative consumer price data for 2008 includes the 27 EU member countries, candidate and potential candidate countries, and Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

European countries offering goods and services at lower prices than Turkey include the Czech Republic (at an average of 72 euros for the comparison set of purchases), Hungary and Slovakia (each at 70 euros), Poland (69 euros), Lithuania (67 euros), Montenegro and Romania (each at 62 euros), Serbia (58 euros), Bosnia and Herzegovina (56 euros), Albania (53 euros), Bulgaria (51 euros) and Macedonia (47 euros). Average price levels in Turkey surpassed that of seven EU members. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 18th, 2009

Who will pay for the pipeline construction and who will own it?

The estimated cost of the pipeline is 8 billion euros. Thirty percent of this amount will be met by the Nabucco consortium, which is composed of the participant countries’ energy companies, namely Turkey’s BOTAŞ, Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz, Romania’s Transgaz, Hungary’s MOL, Austria’s OMV and Germany’s RWE. The European Investment Bank had pledged to provide 25 percent of the cost and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development has also promised to contribute to the project, which will be owned by the Nabucco consortium.

What is at stake for the Turkish government and other participating governments?

The Turkish government has sought a “lift-off,” a percentage of the gas in transit. Originally, the government wanted 15 percent of the gas for domestic use or re-export, but has had to withdraw this request. Instead, Turkey will have access to “up to 50 percent of the total gas set aside in a pool,” which can be purchased at a discount. As a transit fee, Turkey will gain around 450 million euros annually. Additionally, as the host of a 2,000-kilometer stretch of the pipeline, more than 10,000 jobs will be created in Turkey.

What is the importance of Nabucco?

Apart from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Nabucco will be only the second project to carry Caspian reserves to Europe from non-Russian territories. This means it will not only reduce the continent’s dependency on Russia, but also that it will, at the same time, tie Turkey closer to the European Union, bringing the country one step nearer to its goal of becoming an energy hub.

How will Nabucco change the global energy game?

Though Azerbaijan appears to be the sole gas supplier to the project at present, in the future it will be open to any third-party bidders. Once the problems over the status of the Caspian are resolved, Turkmenistan may transfer some of its reserves through Nabucco. Iraq has also expressed its intention to take part in the project and Iran may send some of its future gas to Europe if it can normalize its ties with the West. Egypt is also seen as an important future supplier. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 18th, 2009

The European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat, has revealed that food and non-alcoholic beverages, clothing, restaurants and hotels are cheaper in Turkey while automobiles and consumer electronics are more expensive when compared to EU member states.

According to Eurostat’s price level indices for consumer goods and services for 2008, which include 27 EU member states, candidate countries, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, goods and services costing 100 euros in EU member states can be obtained for only 73 euros in Turkey. According to the survey, the most expensive European countries are Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Finland and Iceland, while the cheapest countries are Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. When the EU average is set at 100 euros for all products and services, consumers in Turkey pay 113 euros for electronics (including televisions, DVD players, receivers, audio systems, MP3 players, cameras, camcorders, (more…)