Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at July 10th, 2008

News in the foreign press pertaining to Turkey’s real estate sector experienced a surge in the aftermath of the approval of a bill by Parliament on July 5 that regulates property sales to foreigners. The attention paid to Turkey’s real estate sector, which is characterized by low prices, has been increasing, wrote British newspaper The Times, adding that prices in the sector are expected to skyrocket if Turkey manages to join the European Union.

“It is possible to purchase a property on Turkish shores at a relatively low price of 35,000 sterling (pounds). Does this sound attractive to you?” wrote the paper. “A clever couple can buy a property with a little amount of deposit and with two credit cards. Credit-card companies provide the opportunity of zero interest rates for 15 months period for those with high credit rankings,” The Times wrote. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 9th, 2008

Faber, a leading global manufacturer of stove hoods, has established a new facility in the Aegean city of Manisa, after closing down a Franke Group factory in China.

Faber Turkey’s new factory, which started operating in 2000 to produce hood ventilators and aspirators in Manisa, launched production with a ceremony Friday.

Faber Turkey, which produced 1.2 million units last year, plans to increase its capacity to 1.5 million units in 2011. Turkey’s importance as a production base is rising for the company, said Michael Pieper, chief executive officer of Franke, a world leader in comprehensive systems for domestic kitchens and for professional applications in food service, coffee preparation, beverage delivery and hygiene solutions. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 4th, 2008

Turkey reiterated yesterday its efforts to convince Russia to support its plans for building the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline, a project hoped to alleviate the burden on the Turkish straits.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in Ankara yesterday for a series of meetings with Turkish officials, including his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 2nd, 2008

Turkey ranks 41st among the best countries for doing business, according to the US “Forbes” magazine, while Romania takes the 40th place, Bulgaria is 44th, Croatia is 45th and Greece takes the 53rd place.

Only one country from the former Communist block - Estonia has ranked among the top 10. Estonia joined the European Union in 2004.

Denmark is number one on the list of best countries for business and has improved its ranking by moving up thee places compared to 2007. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 2nd, 2008

Turkey’s first auction of power grids lured two foreign utilities, compared with at least eight that planned to participate in 2006, as a legal challenge to oust the prime minister and an electricity-price cap deter bidders.

When Turkey announced the auction of power lines that serve Ankara and the industrial Sakarya region near Istanbul two years ago, more than 30 Turkish and foreign companies sought details, among them E.ON, Germany’s biggest utility, and Italy’s Enel. Now, Austria’s Verbund and Prague-based CEZ are the only international companies remaining among the five bidders for each grid, according to the state asset-sales agency. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 2nd, 2008

The Turkish steel market is valuable for ArcelorMittal, Lakshmi Mittal, the company’s chief executive officer told business daily Referans Monday.

ArcelorMittal is aware of the Turkish steel sector’s growth potential, “therefore, we have no plans to sell the shares we own in Erdemir,” the chairman of the global steel giant told the Istanbul-based newspaper. ArcelorMittal had upped its stake in Ereğli Demir Çelik, Turkey’s biggest steelmaker also known as Erdemir, to slightly 24.9 percent from 13.62 percent in mid June. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 28th, 2008

Turkey’s policy of determining strategies to enhance exports result in a considerable contribution to the overall export volume. These strategies are expected to be implemented until at least 2010.

An example of such success, the “Neighboring and Regional Countries Export Strategy” was put in place eight years ago. That year, exports to the countries covered by this strategy totaled $6.9 billion. As of the end of 2007, they have reached $40.7 billion. (more…)

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…)