Turkish Forum

Category: Business

  • Egyptians in Turkey for new business ties

    Egyptians in Turkey for new business ties

    Gökhan Kurtaran

    ISTANBUL

    An Egyptian business delegation with of 41 members listens to local counterparts in southern Turkey. The trade volume between the parties reached $3.4 billion last year. AA photo
    An Egyptian business delegation with of 41 members listens to local counterparts in southern Turkey. The trade volume between the parties reached $3.4 billion last year. AA photo

    Egyptian businessmen visited Turkey for the first time since the revolution to look for ways to resume business bonds with the country, said the head of the Egyptian-Turkish Business Council on Monday.

    “The visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Egypt last week has worked more than thousands of compliments could be made for Egypt-Turkey relations,” said Zuhal Mansfield, head of Turkish-Egyptian Business Council at the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey, or DEİK, in an e-mail response to Hürriyet Daily News questions. There have been close relations with the new Egypt following uprising that began Jan. 25, she said.

    A delegation of 41 Egyptian businessmen visited Turkey’s southern province of Adana and Mersin on Monday and will visit two major industrial cities in the south, Gaziantep and Iskenderun, on Tuesday to have bilateral meetings with Turkish businessmen.

    “Our prime minister went there to pave the way for Turkish traders and businessmen,” said Mansfield, noting that the visit has proved that Turkish and Egyptian business bonds would be stronger than ever. Turkey’s approach during the North African country’s hard times would play a significant role in developing closer ties with Turkey, she said.

    The Turkish and Egyptian trade volume reached $3.4 billion by the end of last year. “We aim to reach a total trade volume of $10 billion in the next five years,” Mansfield said.

    There were almost no Turkish businessmen in Egypt five years ago, according to Mansfield, who said Turkish businesses have invested approximately a total of $1.5 billion in Egypt during the last five years. According to her, Egypt in its post-revolution era will witness approximately $5 billion in Turkish investment by 2015.

    Mansfield also said the new Egyptian interim government should start issuing five-year visas for Turkish businessmen, adding that this would accelerate the business relations between both countries. Turkey and Egypt already have been working on a draft for a free trade zone agreement that is expected to be signed in 2020. “We can backdate it to 2015.”

    Turkish bank in Egypt

    The business council head said opening banks in both Turkey and Egypt was a must to ease transactions between the two countries. “Now it’s time to have a [Turkish] bank in Egypt,” she said. Mansfield also said Turkey and Egypt would soon start roll on-roll off maritime services between Mersin and the Egyptian city of Alexandria.

    “The southern province of Adana ranks as the 13th biggest goods supplier of Egypt, exporting nearly $25 million to Egypt annually,” said Sadi Sürenkök, chairman of the Adana Chamber of Commerce said, according to an Anatolian news agency report on Monday. “I believe trade between the countries will accelerate,” Sürenkök added.

    “We aim to have closer bonds with Turkish businessmen as we also would like cooperate in textile and construction sectors,” said Ahmet Hassan, vice chairman of Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, the agency reported. “We will do our best and ease the investment process for Turkish investors in Egypt,” he said.

    via Egyptians in Turkey for new business ties – Hurriyet Daily News.

  • U.S. Seeks to Strengthen Trade Ties With Turkey

    U.S. Seeks to Strengthen Trade Ties With Turkey

    By JOE PARKINSON

    ISTANBUL—The U.S. is seeking to triple trade with Turkey over the next five to six years, the U.S.’s undersecretary of state for trade and commerce, Francisco Sanchez, said Monday, underlining Washington’s commitment to anchor an increasingly assertive ally at odds over Israel.

    Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul after attending the inaugural meeting of the Turkey-U.S. business council, an advisory group to boost commercial ties, Mr. Sanchez said business links between Washington and Ankara had “never been better,” singling out Turkey’s energy sector as a potential target for future U.S. investment.

    “I’d like to see us triple [trade] in the next five or six years. I think it’s very doable,” Mr. Sanchez said, adding that “I don’t believe any two partners will ever agree 100% on everything. The key is to look at how we manage those differences.”

    The business council was launched in part out of recognition that for strategic allies, the two nations had relatively weak trade ties. But data show that trade between the U.S. and fast-growing Turkey has begun to strengthen. In 2010 bilateral trade swelled to a record $15 billion, while the first seven months of this year have already seen $12 billion in trade volumes, Mr. Sanchez said. Turkey’s economy expanded 11% in the first half of 2011 compared with a year earlier, outstripping China to post the fastest growth of any G-20 economy.

    The call for strengthening commercial ties comes at a politically sensitive moment for the longtime allies, who wield the two largest militaries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

    Diplomatic tensions have escalated rapidly between Turkey and Israel—Washington’s closest partners in the region—most recently over Israel’s refusal to apologize for an operation to board a Gaza-bound ship last year that killed nine activists, eight of whom were Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American. Ankara expelled top Israeli diplomats, cut military ties and vowed to send navy vessels to escort aid ships in the future.

    That has coincided with Turkey showing signs of trading its vaunted “zero problems with neighbors” foreign policy for a more muscular approach, bidding to become the leading power in the Middle East and North Africa.

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has set similar goals to boost trade with partners around the Middle East. Last week he pledged in Cairo to triple trade and investment with Egypt, after signing ambitious, if largely political, energy agreements.

    The U.S.’s Mr. Sanchez acknowledged that political challenges could burden efforts to boost commercial ties, but stressed that the importance of the relationship for both parties meant solutions could be found.

    “There is no challenge that can overcome the importance of this relationship. You can see it in the numbers; we have a growing and vibrant relationship. This relationship is too important and too valuable to the U.S. and Turkey,” the undersecretary said.

    The potential for such challenges was on display Monday as U.S. company Noble Engineering Inc. began exploratory drilling for gas off the southern coast of divided Cyprus, ignoring Turkish warnings that it would retaliate by launching its own explorations in the eastern Mediterranean.

    Mr. Sanchez wouldn’t comment on the Texas-based company’s operations, and brushed off questions over how the U.S.’s fast-sinking popularity in Turkey could hamstring its efforts to boost business collaboration, stressing that the commercial objectives of the allies were aligned.

    The latest global poll by the Pew Research Center in May showed that the lowest approval rating for the U.S. of six Muslim nations surveyed was in Turkey—at just 10%, down from 17% last year. U.S. President Barack Obama didn’t fare much better, with only 12% of Turks expressing confidence for the U.S leader, against 73% who didn’t.

    Write to Joe Parkinson at [email protected]

    via U.S. Seeks to Strengthen Trade Ties With Turkey – WSJ.com.

  • Dutch queen warns nation of tough economic times

    Dutch queen warns nation of tough economic times

    By Mike Corder Associated Press

    THE HAGUE, Netherlands—Dutch Queen Beatrix warned her subjects Tuesday to brace for a year of tough budget cuts as the government struggles to protect the economy from any shocks emanating from Europe’s debt crisis.

    Beatrix’s speech to lawmakers in Parliament’s 13th century “Knights’ Hall” was the first written by the conservative government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, which came to power last year pledging to slash euro 18 billion in government spending.

    “The year ahead will be a year of tough savings measures that will hit everybody,” Beatrix warned, after riding from the Noordeinde Palace to Parliament in her gold-trimmed carriage through the crowd-lined streets of The Hague.

    The measures included in Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager’s budget already have been widely publicized after it was accidentally posted online last Thursday.

    They include deep cuts to the country’s generous social security network and raising the retirement age from 65 to 66 in 2020 and to 67 five years later.

    The government is forecasting economic growth of 1 percent in 2012, inflation of 2 percent and a budget deficit of 2.9 percent.

    It has also warned that more savings may still be necessary, depending on developments in the debt crisis.

    “A well-functioning European internal market and stable euro are essential for the government’s goals,” Beatrix said.

    Opposition Labor Party leader Job Cohen slammed the government for a divisive package of savings.

    “The pile of cuts by the Cabinet hits large groups of people,” Cohen said. “But the richest are being sheltered and the Netherlands will become weaker in the long term because of the plans.”

    De Jager was formally presenting his budget package to lawmakers later Tuesday.

    “The debt crisis underscores the importance of healthy government finances,” he tweeted after the queen’s speech. “Budgetary discipline is an absolute priority for this Cabinet.”

    www.boston.com,  September 20, 2011

    Economic storm threatens the Netherlands, says finance minister

    The Netherlands will have to dig its heels in to withstand the coming economic storm, finance minister Jan Kees de Jager told MPs on Tuesday, as he formally handed over the government’s 2012 spending plans to parliament.

    ‘We are being threatened by something, but we don’t know what is heading for us, or when”, the minister said.

    ‘It is clear that 2012 is going to be a difficult year for a lot of people,’ De Jager said. ‘We have to make difficult choices and they will hurt.’

    €70m too much

    The Netherlands is a financially solid country, but still runs a deficit and the debt is increasing. This year alone the country will spend €70m too much every day.

    The cabinet is trying to carve out a leading role in restoring financial stability to the EU, he said. This is why the government is keen to tighten up eurozone budget rules and prevent the spread of the Greek crisis. In the long term ‘we have to ensure our weaker brother does not bring down other countries in its wake,’ De Jager said.

    MPs and ministers will hold two days of debate on the 2012 plans on Wednesday and Thursday. The actual documents were published last week but ministers have refrained from commenting on them since then.

    www.dutchnews.nl, 20 September 2011

  • Phl Ambassador to Turkey Discusses Trade and Investment Promotion with Officials of the Association for Social and Economic Solidarity with Pacific Counties

    Phl Ambassador to Turkey Discusses Trade and Investment Promotion with Officials of the Association for Social and Economic Solidarity with Pacific Counties

    20 September 2011-The Philippine Embassy in Ankara reported that officials of the Istanbul-based Association for Social and Economic Solidarity with Pacific Countries called on Ambassador-designate Marilyn J. Alarilla on September 15 at the Embassy to discuss economic and cultural cooperation activities implemented in the Philippines.

    Ankara PE Trade Promotion

    The Association officials present during the meeting were General Secretary Ersin Karaoglan, Board Member Ferhan Merter, Philippine-based Fountain International School Director-General Malik Gencer, and Turkish news magazine “Aksiyon” correspondent Mesut Cevikalp.

    Also present during the meeting was Second Secretary Leilani S. Feliciano.

    The Association for Social and Economic Solidarity with Pacific Countries is a partner organization of the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists in Turkey, which is organizing the 2011 Trade Bridge Fair to be held on October 24 to 30 in the Istanbul Congress Center.

    The Association officials discussed the expected participation of ten Philippine companies in the forthcoming Trade Bridge Fair, which will focus on food, agricultural products, consumer goods and home appliances.

    During the meeting, Ambassador-designate Alarilla encouraged the Turkish representatives to explore cooperation between Philippine and Turkish companies in construction and infrastructure projects, food industry including tropical and marine products, jewelry including pearl-based items, and business process outsourcing and other IT-related services.

    Embassy and Forum officials agreed to continue their cooperation particularly on exchange information on future programs and projects.

    via Phl Ambassador to Turkey Discusses Trade and Investment Promotion with Officials of the Association for Social and Economic Solidarity with Pacific Counties.

  • Russian search giant Yandex expands into Turkey, opens Istanbul office

    Russian search giant Yandex expands into Turkey, opens Istanbul office

    Russian search giant Yandex expands into Turkey with new search portal and Istanbul offices

    Russian search giant Yandex today announced its expansion into Turkey, opening a Turkish version of its search engine and incorporating a range of other services tailored for Turkish users but also opening an office in Istanbul.

    Yandex has made sure to introduce its core search product but also serves pictures and videos, demonstrating small tweaks that can help users find books and poetry just by entering one line from the text itself. On top of its search features, Yandex’s Turkish portal will also offer email services, news, translation and other services.

    Yandex’s CEO Arkady Volozh notes how big a move this is for the Russian search giant:

    “It’s the first time we start offering web search services in a country where almost nobody speaks any Russian. We have considered countries with a well-developed internet market, a growing web user audience and a lot of local language content. Turkey was a clear first choice. Instead of just localizing our services for this country, we custom-built an entirely new product – tailored specifically to web users in Turkey.

    The company has already employed over twenty new staff in its new Istanbul office, making sure that it can add to its technological innovations with a deep understanding of the local culture, the language and the varying preferences of its users.

    In August, Yandex acquired ‘social newspaper’ service The Tweeted Times as part of a push to integrate more social data into its search results. Similar to Paper.li, it generates a ‘newspaper’ on the Web containing stories shared by people that they follow on Twitter. The team behind have now joined Yandex to work on boosting its search and content services with information from social networks.

    In 2010, Yandex generated 64% of all search traffic in Russia and was the largest Russian Internet company by revenue. It floated on the NASDAQ earlier this year.

    via Russian search giant Yandex expands into Turkey, opens Istanbul office.

  • Tony Blair ‘visited Libya to lobby for JP Morgan’

    Tony Blair ‘visited Libya to lobby for JP Morgan’

    Tony Blair used visits to Libya after he left office to lobby for business for the American investment bank JP Morgan, The Daily Telegraph has been told.

    blair and gaddafi
    Mr Blair was flown to Libya twice at Gaddafi's expense on one of the former dictator's private jets Photo: GETTY

    By Richard Spencer, Tripoli, Heidi Blake and Jon Swaine in New York

    A senior executive with the Libyan Investment Authority, the $70 billion fund used to invest the country’s oil money abroad, said Mr Blair was one of three prominent western businessmen who regularly dealt with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the former leader.

    Saif al-Islam and his close aides oversaw the activities of the fund, and often directed its officials on where they should make its investments, he said.

    The executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, said officials were told the “ideas” they were ordered to pursue came from Mr Blair as well as one other British businessman and a former American diplomat.

    “Tony Blair’s visits were purely lobby visits for banking deals with JP Morgan,” he said.

    He said that unlike some other deals – notably some investments run by the US bank Goldman Sachs – JP Morgan’s had never turned “bad”.

    Documents found by The Sunday Telegraph published this weekend showed Mr Blair had made at least three visits to Tripoli, twice in the lead-up to the release of the alleged Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Megrahi in 2008 and 2009 and once last year. On the first two occasions he was flown to the country on planes arranged by Col Gaddafi.

    A senior diplomat told The Daily Telegraph last night that the British embassy in Tripoli had arranged transport for Mr Blair and his entourage in Tripoli and ensured that representatives were there to “greet him and see him off” at the airport.

    Mr Blair stayed overnight at the ambassador’s official residence in Tripoli and was accompanied by “several” British police officers for protection.

    The documents show that among the people he was due to meet in 2009 was Mohammed Layas, head of the LIA.

    A spokesman for Mr Blair said that the visits had largely been to discuss Africa, and categorically denied that he had lobbied Said al-Islam on behalf of JP Morgan.

    The spokesman said last night: “As we have made clear many times before, Tony Blair has never had any role, either formal or informal, paid or unpaid, with the Libyan Investment Authority or the Government of Libya and he does not and has never had any commercial relationship with any Libyan company or entity.”

    Mr Blair began work in January 2008 as a £2million-a-yearn adviser to JP Morgan. Last month, American officials told the New York Post newspaper that the bank managed more than half a billion US dollars on behalf of the LIA.

    The executive said that he did not see Mr Blair at the LIA headquarters in the modern Tower of the Revolution overlooking the seafront. He said officials like himself were given their instructions by two senior Saif aides, including Mohammed Ismail, a Libyan with British nationality.

    One of the letters arranging the 2008 visit, in which an aide to Mr Blair told the Libyan ambassador to Britain that the former prime minister was “delighted” that “The Leader” was likely to be able to see him, was on notepaper headed “Office of the Quartet Representative”, his formal title as Middle East envoy.

    The Quartet he represents is made up of the European Union, the United Nations, Russia and the United States. A spokesman for Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, said: “It’s up to him to explain why he did this.”

    The growing closeness of the Blair government to the Gaddafi regime has already come under fire. Abdulhakim Belhadj, former leader the Libyan Islamist Fighting Group and now head of the revolutionary Tripoli Military Council, is demanding an apology after papers showed MI6 arranged for his secret extradition from Malaysia back to Libya in 2004.

    Many ordinary Libyans have also expressed surprise at the policy. After the latest revelations, Hoda Abuzeid, a British Libyan whose dissident father was murdered in London in 1995, accused Mr Blair of “selling out”.

    “People like Blair and those who had their eyes on the business opportunities that Gaddafi could provide sold out people like my family,” said Miss Abuzeid, who has returned to the country for the first time since 1980.

    “When he had tea in the desert with the ‘Brother Leader’ did he ever ask him who killed my father?”

    www.telegraph.co.uk, 18 Sep 2011