Turkish Forum

Category: Business

  • Uganda, Turkey sign bilateral trade agreement

    Uganda, Turkey sign bilateral trade agreement

    By Martin Luther Oketch  (email the author)

    Posted Thursday, December 2 2010 at 00:00

    Kampala

    Uganda and Turkey have signed a bilateral trade agreement that will formalise business traffic between the two countries. The signing of the agreement follows a first joint economic commission of a Ministerial session held in Kampala between Monday and Tuesday. The meeting, which included a delegation of Turkish officials, Uganda officials and participants from other East African states, also discussed bilateral trade relationships between East Africa, particularly Uganda, and Turkey.

    Trade volumes

    According to statistics recorded in the last decade, trade between the two countries has grown from about Shs4.6 billion in 2003 to about Shs51 billion in 2009. The committee focusing on trade and investment, said trade potential between the two countries has not been fully exploited and as such there is a need for a joint vision to strengthen and further develop commercial and economic relations.

    The committee agreed to encourage the two countries’ export promotion bodies to assist Small and Medium Enterprise to expand capacity and engage in export trade and facilitation.

    Members said SMEs should be provided with skills development programmes and trade information in order to boost their capacity.

    Other focus areas

    The agreement will also focus on industrialisation with technical support from Turkey, technological transfers to support Uganda’s textile industry and goods standardisation among others. Turkey also agreed to provide training programmes to Ugandan farmers on the issue of modern irrigation systems, agricultural extension and the use of agricultural equipment and machines. The technical session also indentified transport as another key area, which needs cooperation.

    Mr Kahinda Otafiire, Uganda’s Tourism and Trade minister, signed on behalf of the Uganda government, while Mr Bulent Arinc, the Turkish deputy prime minister, signed on behalf of the Turkish government.

    via Daily Monitor:  – Commodities |Uganda, Turkey sign bilateral trade agreement.

  • Chinese businessmen to buy marble from Turkey

    Chinese businessmen to buy marble from Turkey

    DENIZLI – Anatolia News Agency

    A Chinese business delegation currently visiting Turkey will purchase marble and travertine from the western province of Denizli for the ECO City, to be built on 2 million square meters in China, Arslan Erdinç, chairman of the Aegean Union of Mine Exporters, said Tuesday.

    Speaking to reporters, Erdinç said the delegation met with producers of marble and declared it would import marble and travertine.

    “China has great potential as a market. The purchase to be made by the Chinese delegation will carry Turkish-Chinese trade relations a step further,” Erdinç said.

    The ECO City to be built in China is a joint project of the governments of China and Singapore.

  • Turkey’s Trade Deficit Spotlights Risks

    Turkey’s Trade Deficit Spotlights Risks

    By JOE PARKINSON

    ISTANBUL—Turkey’s trade deficit widened sharply in October, official data showed Tuesday, underlining the emerging economy’s growth but spotlighting an imbalance that analysts say leaves it exposed to external shocks.

    According to the Turkish statistics institute, or Turkstat, the October trade deficit expanded to $6.3 billion from $2.7 billion a year earlier, exceeding market expectations of a $5.8 billion deficit.

    Driving that expansion was a 35.5% year-to-year rise in imports, to $17.3 billion. Export growth moderated 8.8%, to $11.0 billion, Turkstat said.

    The news sent Turkish bonds and the lira lower, extending losses generated by euro-zone debt worries, although shares held firm after sharp declines a day earlier.

    Economists said the widening deficit reflected Turkey’s strong consumer-fueled economic growth, but cautioned that with export growth moderating and imports still surging, the trade deficit and, critically, the current-account deficit, were likely to widen further.

    “Disappointingly, the data show export growth slowing with imports continuing to boom,” said Timothy Ash, an emerging markets economist at RBS in London. But the figures, he added, are “consistent with a 5% current-account deficit for the full year in 2010.”

    Turkey’s economy has recovered rapidly from the economic crisis, posting 10.3% growth in the second quarter, tying China for the fastest growth in the G-20.

    But some policy makers and economists are starting to worry that the heavy dependence on imports and domestic demand is magnifying a potentially fatal flaw in its impressive rebound from economic crisis: a blossoming current-account deficit financed by volatile hot money, or speculative investments.

    Turkey’s Central Bank Governor Durmus Yilmaz recently warned that the quality of the Turkey’s deficit financing was “a concern,” which may require policy to place “restrictions on demand.”

    In September, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek also expressed doubts about the “quality of financing” entering the country.

    For some economists, the starring role that hot money plays in funding Turkey’s yawning current-account deficit is a red flag that could cause problems if another bout of risk-aversion were to drive investors away from emerging markets and into safe havens, such as the U.S. dollar or gold.

    “We’re talking about a $40 billion current-account deficit in Turkey this year, which needs financing. The big problem is that the moment the global environment changes and there is a drop in risk appetite, then the money may leave, and then we’re in trouble,” said Murat Ucer, an Istanbul-based analyst at Global Source Partners, an economics-research consulting firm.

    Write to Joe Parkinson at [email protected]

    via Turkey’s Trade Deficit Spotlights Risks – WSJ.com.

  • TouchIT Technologies, Inc. (TUCN.OB) Announces the Appointment of el-Haceb as New Distribution Partner

    TouchIT Technologies, Inc. (TUCN.OB) Announces the Appointment of el-Haceb as New Distribution Partner

    By QualityStocks | November 30, 2010 4:19 AM EST

    TouchIT Technologies, Inc. announced yesterday that they have appointed el-Haceb as Distribution Partner for Lebanon. el-Haceb will be carrying the full range of TouchIT Products which are available now for both trade and direct accounts.

    Ronnie Murphy, President of World Wide Sales at TouchIT Technologies, said, “el-Haceb is a great fit for the business. el-Haceb’s 25 years of experience and contacts in the country will be a great asset for the TouchIT product range.”

    Ibrahim Shatila, CEO at el-Haceb, said, “Traditionally, el-Haceb has concentrated in the corporate services markets for IT products. With the TouchIT range of products, we will be able to sell the product in our existing channels, but will also expand our reach into education, building on our vast experience and contacts in the region.”

    el-Haceb plans to establish a “special package” for the Lebanese market. This includes both government approved local educational content software, as well as training and installation services. “Our discussions with local partners for the educational content are moving along nicely and we already have interest from large school groups in the region,” Ibrahim Shatila added.

    “The Middle East is proving to be a hive of activity for TouchIT Technologies,” commented Ronnie Murphy. “This has been one of our focus regions for growth which we expect to continue,” he concluded.

    Headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey, TouchIT Technologies designs, produces, and markets touch-based visual communication products. Their focus is to produce innovative touch-based interactive products for use in both Education and Corporate environments.

    The Company manufactures a large range of touch screen and touch board products to suit all types of applications from 42″ LCD touch-screens to large interactive whiteboard displays and audience response systems. Their touch-based interactive whiteboard combines a world class enameled steel low glare surface with their touch technology. The Company’s touch-based interactive LCDs are not overlays. Their touch technology is embedded into the screen creating one of the world’s first fully integrated large format interactive LCD ranges.

    TouchIT Technologies, Inc. has manufacturing facilities in Istanbul, Turkey and Sales Offices in London, UK, Co Limerick, Ireland and Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

    For more information visit: www.touchittechnologies.com

    via TouchIT Technologies, Inc. (TUCN.OB) Announces the Appointment of el-Haceb as New Distribution Partner – International Business Times.

  • Istanbul’s Karakoy port tender in Q1 of 2011

    Istanbul’s Karakoy port tender in Q1 of 2011

    bne – 30.11.2010

    Turkey’s Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has announced that a tender for the operating rights to a port regeneration project in Istanbul’s Karakoy neighborhood will be held in the first quarter of 2011.

    The project embodies a cruise ship port, hotels and retail outlets and is expected to bring in a fortune of several billions of dollars to the Treasury’s purses. He further provided some details as to recent privatization deals, also underlining planned sales of government assets, particularly mentioning highways and bridges, which would be made through the transfer of operating rights for 25 years. bne.

    via Balkans.com Business News : Turkey: Istanbul’s Karakoy port tender in Q1 of 2011.

  • İstanbul’s air traffic will be eased by new airport

    İstanbul’s air traffic will be eased by new airport

    The Turkish Transportation Minister has announced a third airport in İstanbul will be constructed on the European side and that it will have a yearly passenger capacity of 60 million.

    Passengers waiting at the İstanbul Atatürk’s Airport international flight terminal. Currently, the two airports in İstanbul are not enough to reduce the density in the air traffic.
    Passengers waiting at the İstanbul Atatürk’s Airport international flight terminal. Currently, the two airports in İstanbul are not enough to reduce the density in the air traffic.

    Speaking to the Anatolia news agency on Monday, Minister Binali Yıldırım said the civil aviation sector in Turkey has witnessed crucial developments in recent years that have resulted in increased density of air traffic across Turkey and especially in İstanbul. He noted that there are currently two operating airports in İstanbul — the İstanbul Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen airports — and they are working on a third airport to be constructed in İstanbul.

    Yıldırım underlined that the next airport will be constructed on the European side, although they have not decided on the exact area yet. “The new airport in İstanbul will have a capacity of at least 60 million passengers-per-year. There will be at least two independent landing fields, and it is expected to be one of the most important airports in Europe. It will be tendered with a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model and will cost approximately $5 billion, including the connecting highways to this airport,” said the Minister. He added that Sabiha Gökçen Airport had decreased the density of Atatürk Airport and with the planned third airport İstanbul’s problems with air traffic congestion will be significantly eased.

    Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım noted that the two operating airports in İstanbul are not enough to meet the air traffic demand of the major Turkish city and announced that a third airport will be contstructed in İstanbul, on the European side

    Separately, Yıldırım also touched upon unfinished subway projects in İstanbul and Ankara. He said the responsibility for the projects has recently been transferred from local authorities to the Transportation Ministry, but they are waiting approval from the cabinet. Yıldırım said the Transportation Ministry and the Transportation Ministry’s General Directorate of Railroads, Ports and Airports Construction (DLH) will continue with the unfinished subway projects in the two major cities in Turkey. “It is not definite but we, as the ministry, think that the same construction companies will continue subway construction in İstanbul, while in Ankara we will work with the companies that we would like to continue and otherwise tender the subway project again. We would like to complete these projects as soon as possible and give priority to subway projects. It is expected that subway construction will be completed in two to two-and-a-half year’s time” said the minister.

    Answering a question regarding the Sürat Railway Project, Yıldırım noted the project started in the year 1974 and that only 60 kilometers of rail have been constructed since then. He said the Sürat Railway Project’s aim was to connect Ankara with İstanbul passing through the Ayaş Tunnel and that the total length of the railway was estimated as 260 kilometers. “We are not considering completing this project as well but are thinking of rehabilitating the Ankara-Ayaş part of the project in such a way that trains could travel at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour. This rehabilitation will cost approximately TL 150 million, and in this way, we could at least make use of the completed part of the project and spend less money,” said Yıldırım.