Turkey Capital Ankara Currency Turkish lira (YTL) Language Turkish Population 70.41 million EU status Applicant GDP 2006 $358.2 billion Employment 89.8% Exports $85.21billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) Imports $120.9 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

setting up business Number of days to start business 9 Cost (% of income per capita) 26.8% Nonwage labor cost (% of salary) 21.6% Total tax rate (% profits) 46.3%

Turkey

Istanbul by night

An applicant country to the EU, Turkey offers a crossroads between Europe and Asia, both logistically and culturally speaking. On the economic side, Turkey has a great deal going for it, having overcome a serious economic crisis at the end of the 90s. Today, the growth rate is an extremely healthy 5.2%, and investor confidence is growing, although it is believed that there is still potential for the country to attract considerably higher levels of FDI than is currently the case. An internal market of 67 million people, and good access to the 600-million strong European market offer a wide range of both domestic and export-oriented opportunities.

FDI in flow

FDI inflows in Turkey have grown steadily since 2004, reaching $3.9 billion in 2006, up from $2.96 billion in 2005. FDI was spread across a number of fields, with considerable investment in the tourism and leisure sector, as well as in industry, manufacturing and business and financial services. Major investors over the past five years have included the Hilton group, Accor, Toyota and Renault. The US leads the field in investing in Turkey, and is currently responsible for 18% 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 agreement on the avoidance of double taxation.

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.

In addition, Turkey is a member of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Agreement (BSEC), which ultimately intends to set up a free trade zone between its members, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

investment sectors

Take-up of higher education is increasing

Almost all sectors of the Turkish economy are open to foreign investors, although there is a limit of 20% foreign involvement with any broadcasting venture, and 49% on aviation, maritime transport, ports and value-added telecommunication services. Real estate and fisheries are not open to foreign capital. The privatization of the Turkish economy is ongoing, and offers possibility for investors to become involved in a number of areas, including the energy sector.

An energy transfer hub

The opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which delivers some million barrels a day to the port of Ceyhan, has further reinforced Turkey’s position as a major oil transit point, and further investment is likely to be made in the sector. In addition, Turkey will become an increasingly important transit point for natural gas from the Middle East and Central Asia into the major West European markets.

Amcham Turkey

According to Ugur Terzioglu, chairman of Amcham Turkey, the two countries need more co-operation in the private sector than ever before. Speaking at the 2006 General Assembly of the Turkish American Business Association/ Amcham Turkey, he emphasized that the association plans to focus its activities in improving the economic co-operation in order to contribute to the strategic partnership between the two countries.

 

Contact Information

Turkish-American Business Association (TABA)
Tankaya Apt Kat 7 20 Sisli
Büyükdere Caddesi 18
34360 Istanbul
Turkey
Tel: +90 21 22 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

 

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