COUNTRY PROFILES
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TurkeyCapital Currency Population EU status GDP Employment Government type Religions Languages Exports Imports |
COUNTRY PROFILE
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Turkey |
Print article Library of Celsus, ruins of the ancient city Ephesus |
Turkey sits at the crossroads between Europe and Asia. It has strong economic links with the US — the US is Turkey’s fourth-largest trading partner, and its main source of FDI. US investors in Turkey benefit from the Access Eastern Med programme, aimed at supporting and encouraging US involvement in the region.
Currency reform
After severe economic problems in the late ‘90s, Turkey implemented a rescue plan agreed with the IMF at the end of 2002. Growth is now at around 5% per annum. One of the most crucial measures to be tackled was the chronic inflation, which until recently meant that even the smallest purchase required millions of lira, and new bank notes had to be issued on a biannual basis. Inflation has now been reduced, although it remains high by European standards, and currency reforms brought in at the end of 2005 have exchanged old lira for new at the rate of a million to one . The reformed currency is currently known as new Turkish lira (YTL): once the reform is complete and all old currency has withdrawn, it will revert to the original name of Turkish lira (TRL). The exchange rate is approximately 1.4 new Turkish lira to the dollar.
Turkey and the EU
Turkey has been a candidate country for EU membership since 1999. Formal accession negotiations began in October 2005, after a tricky period of negotiation between EU countries, with some countries pressing to grant the country a privileged trading partnership rather than full membership rights. It was eventually agreed to offer Turkey full membership, and negotiations on entry continue. The prospect of EU membership and the easing of tensions over Cyprus mean that the country is likely to become an increasingly popular place to do business.
Geographical issues
Turkey is close to the West in its business and city life, and getting closer. But the tourist board cliché of a country that spans Europe and Asia — both literally, at the Bosporus Straits and metaphorically — has some truth in it. Turkey borders on nine countries, ranging from the prosperous to the war torn — Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and gives access to markets across the Southern Mediterranean region.
FDI
Figures from FDI monitoring service Locomonitor show that FDI in Turkey for 2005 amounted to a total of $2.94 billion. FDI was spread across a number of fields, with the largest investment clusters in transport equipment and heavy industry.
A survey from PriceWaterhouseCoopers concludes that closer cooperation with the EU and more readily available government support for investors is vital if Turkey is to increase the amount of FDI that it attracts. The US leads the field in investing in Turkey, and is currently responsible for 17% of all FDI projects in the country. Turkey has a number of bilateral agreements with the USA, including a customs co-operation agreement and an an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation.
Facts in brief
 Hagia Sophia Sultanahmet in Istanbul |
Turkey’s location is Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria
Its climate is temperate: hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior
Natural resources include coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulphur), clay, arable land, hydropower
Agricultural products are tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus; livestock
Industries include textiles, food processing, autos, electronics, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper
Diplomatic representation in the US — Chief of mission: Ambassador Nabi Sensoy
Diplomatic representation from the US — Chief of mission: Ambassador Ross Wilson
Contact Information
Turkish-American Business
Association (TABA)
Tankaya Apt Kat 7 20 Sisli
Büyükdere Caddesi 18
34360 Istanbul, Turkey
Tel: +90 2122 9109 1618
E-mail: amcham@amcham.org
Website: www.amcham.org
Useful websites
| ankara.usembassy.gov | US Embassy |
| www.turkey-now.org | Turkish-US Business Council – news and wide range of useful information |
| www.sanayi.gov.tr | Ministry of Industry and Trade |
| www.exim.gov/turkey | Development opportunities in Turkey |
| www.buyusa.gov/easternmed | Access Eastern Med website |
| www.tourismturkey.org | Official tourist office website |