Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at October 25th, 2011

Philips is seeking double-digit growth in Turkey, according to a top executive. The Dutch company is planning to relaunch manufacturing in the country.
Multinational Dutch company Philips is aiming for aggressive growth in the robust Turkish market, according to the top executive of the Turkish branch of the company, who noted that Phillips is considering joint ventures and acquisitions in Turkey to achieve its goals.

Philips might consider restarting manufacturing in Turkey due to “tremendous change” in global economic stability in recent years, said Willem Rozenberg, chief executive of Philips Turkey & Caucasus, speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News in an interview on Thursday. Founded in Istanbul in 1930, the company manufactured a wide range of products in Turkey until 2008. Talking about the future plans of the company, Rozenberg said, “The company might return to Turkish with an industrial presence in some form.” (more…)

Posted by meb at April 21st, 2011

Amid recent debates over creating a domestic car brand in Turkey, a Turkish wagon company has already managed to produce a domestic train named the Anatolia.

The train will run on diesel, making it highly attractive for markets whose transportation system is mainly designed for diesel, the top official of Turkish Wagon Industry, Inc., (TÜVASAŞ), the producer of the trains, told Today’s Zaman.

The country’s first domestic diesel train Anatolia was put on the tracks during a ceremony on Tuesday in the northwestern province of Sakarya. TÜVASAŞ General Manager İbrahim Ertiryaki told Today’s Zaman that the latest available technology was used in producing the wagons, 85 percent of which were produced locally. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 19th, 2009

Groupama, a leading European insurance, banking and financial services group, has decided to join forces with Turkey’s Başak Sigorta and Güven Sigorta under one brand in an attempt to expand operations in Turkey.

Becoming the third-largest insurance company, Groupama now aims to continue an ambitious investment plan with its Turkish branch. It announced last week the launch of “Groupama Sigorta” and “Groupama Emeklilik,” by merging Başak and Güven insurance companies. Groupama acquired Başak Sigorta and Başak Emeklilik in 2006 and Güven Sigorta and Güven Hayat in 2008.

“We joined two strong rooted companies’ forces by bringing local and international expertise together. With this merger, our clients will benefit from a strong service offering, an innovative product proposition and the strength of one of the leading international insurance companies, which already proved itself to more than 16 million customers all over the world,” said Jean-Francois Lemoux, international general manager of Groupama. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 24th, 2009

General Electric, or GE, a global media, technology, services and manufacturing company, has begun to invest in future technologies at its engine-parts division in Turkey’s northwestern city of Eskişehir, according to a GE executive.

The firm will produce new compressor-wing technologies only in Turkey, said GE Turkey Managing Director Kürşat Özkan. The investment totals nearly $50 million, he added.

Speaking about the global crisis and its impacts, Özkan said that GE will continue its activities in Turkey. “We have started investing in future technologies here in our Eskişehir division, although there is a capacity surplus in the world. New compressor-wing technologies will be produced only in Turkey.”

The firm has already started developing some of its production technologies in Turkey, he said, adding, “It may not sound reasonable to make such a manufacturing investment in a period marked with demand contraction in the market, but we will have positioned ourselves once the market demand returns.” (more…)

Posted by meb at September 24th, 2009

The first satellite manufactured in Turkey, created by the İstanbul Technical University (İTÜ) flight and space sciences faculty’s space engineering department, has settled into orbit around the Earth.

According to reports, Turkish satellite İTÜpSAT1, launched from Sriharikota by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) at 9:21 a.m. local time yesterday on a PSLV C-14 rocket, settled into its orbital path, 720 kilometers above the surface of the earth, at 9:41 a.m. The cube-shaped satellite travels at a speed of nearly 7.5 kilometers per second, orbiting the Earth once every 90 minutes. It will take photographs of the Earth’s continents. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 8th, 2009

The industrial production will show signs of significant recovery in the final quarter of the year, according to Industry and Trade Minister Nihat Ergün. ‘But no one should expect a rapid and speculative rally. What’s important is to take healthy steps and enable a stable growth.’ DHA photo.

The pace of decline in Turkish industrial output slowed in July for the fifth consecutive month as the deepest contraction on record eased.

Industrial output fell 9.2 percent from a year ago, following a decline of 10.3 percent in June, the Ankara-based Turkish Statistical Institute, or TurkStat, said on its Web site Tuesday. Output was expected to decrease 9 percent, according to the median estimate of 12 economists polled by Bloomberg.

“It’s clear that the contraction will continue in the third quarter of the year,” said Özgur Altuğ, an economist at BGC Partners in Istanbul. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 26th, 2009

Turkey’s four-day 9th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF’09), due to start tomorrow in İstanbul, will host high-ranking defense officials from about 14 African countries for the first time while the level of participation from Europe at senior levels will be quite low.

However, exhibition booths where advanced arms will be exhibited still belong mostly to European and US arms manufacturers. Defense ministers from 14 African countries, including Ethiopia, Gambia, Tanzania and Uganda, will be present at the fair, while no senior US officials are expected to participate. However, US arms producers, including Lockheed Martin and Boeing, will exhibit their products at the fair. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 26th, 2009

An international defense industry fair will open in the Turkish city of İstanbul on Monday.

The International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF’09) will be inaugurated at the TUYAP Fair, Convention and Congress Center in İstanbul.

Leading defense industry firms in Turkey and the world will participate in the fair to stay open till April 30. (more…)