Category: Business

The Turkish model

Due to major airport work in Istanbul, Turkey is attracting the attention of the region’s construction industry

One of Turkey’s largest and most prestigious construction projects to date is the hotly-anticipated tender for Istanbul’s third airport, estimated to cost $5.6bn (see Intel on p4 for more details of this tender).

The cream of the crop of Turkey’s construction companies are vying for this lucrative deal, including TAV Havalimanlari Holding, Alarko Holding and construction groups Varyap and Limak.

Major foreign investors, including those from Japan, France, China and Germany, have already shown interest in the airport, which will be constructed in three phases, reports the Anatolia News Agency.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has revealed that the airport will be built on a plot in the north of the European side of Istanbul, without elaborating on further details.

The project will follow the build-operate-transfer model, also known as the “Turkish model,” according to Erdogan. This model has attracted $2bn in investment for airport construction across the country. The capacity produced by these private-sector projects has amounted to 90.5 million passengers a year, with government investment lagging.

Regional airports, meaning facilities that serve more than one province, are crucial for civil aviation, Erdogan said. Ordu Giresun Airport in the north, Çukurova Airport in the south and Zafer Airport in the inner-Aegean region are three such projects.

Zafer will be the first to be completed on 29 October, which is about 1.5 years earlier than the original deadline, due to the sterling efforts of the main contractor. The date marks the anniversary of the modern Turkish republic.

A third airport in Istanbul, the largest city in the country, has long been on the agenda, as Ataturk Airport on the European side and Sabiha Gokcen on the Asian side are struggling to meet the rising demand with mainly Turkish Airlines, the national flag carrier, boosting its flights and the city attracting more visitors.

The airport will have an initial capacity to handle 90 million passengers a year, extending eventually to 150 million, and three runways for simultaneous use. Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said earlier this month the aim was for the first stage of the airport to open in 2016.

Yildirim announced the tender competition for the Istanbul airport last month, with a view to completing the bidding by the end of 2012 after spending 18 months choosing the site.

Yildirim revealed that Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport was working 50% more than it was supposed to, thanks to recent renovations and capacity rehabilitations at the airport.

“We will direct some flights to some other airports, and we will provide more opportunities to scheduled flights,” Yildirim told reporters in Istanbul. He added that all these were short- or medium-term measures that would relieve traffic at the airport.

Ataturk accommodated 20.3 million international passengers, with international commercial flight traffic of around 178,817 in 2010. These figures were 11.8 million and 94,887 respectively for domestic traffic.

Alarko Group general coordinator Ayhan Yavrucu has said Alarko might be interested in joining a consortium and entering the bidding for the tender for Istanbul’s third airport.

“We are probably the company that has built the most airports in Turkey. We are interested in the third airport tender,” asserted Yavrucu. Alarko has already applied for the preliminary qualification for the privatisation of the Bosphorus bridges and highways project. He added that the company had not yet devised a concrete financing plan for the privatisation.

TAV Group CEO Sani Sener said: “The company that wins the tender should have access to powerful financing and know-how. Istanbul is very important to our portfolio. The number of incoming tourists is rising; the economy is developing.

If we think of Istanbul as a financial hub, its importance is even more key. Our partnership with French Aeroports de Paris also adds to the TAV brand value,” added Sener.

According to Sener, the third airport can be completed in three years, and TAV is keen to win this major tender. He stressed that the airport construction should be awarded to a company that “knows the business.”

Sener said: “This is not a terminal operation, it is an airport operation. We are talking about a $10bn project. Strong financing is necessary. One needs to be picky.”

Sener said five to six firms with which it competes regularly would place bids in the upcoming third airport tender. He explained that the airport would be constructed on a plot of land containing coal mines, and would therefore be difficult to construct.

TAV had a contract for Ataturk until 2021, and that the Transportation Ministry had assured TAV that its rights would be protected and that Ataturk was not likely to become a boutique airport. “If it is going to be a project that competes with Ataturk Airport, then it would not be a $10bn project,” he noted.

via The Turkish model | ConstructionWeekOnline.com.

September 27, 2012
Bakanlıktan Youtube için özel talimat

Ulaştırma, Denizcilik ve Haberleşme Bakanlığı, Müslümanların Masumiyeti adlı filmin video içeriğinin bulunduğu URL adreslerine erişimin engellenmesi için yasal süreç başlattı.

BİRÇOK İNTERNET SİTESİNDEN YAYINLANDI

Ulaştırma, Denizcilik ve Haberleşme Bakanlığı Basın ve Halkla İlişkiler Müşavirliği’nden yapılan yazılı açıklamada, ”Müslümanların masumiyeti” adlı dini değerlere ve inançlara hakaret eden, nefret söylemi içeren filmin bir kısmı veya tamamı başta Youtube adlı video paylaşım sitesi olmak üzere birçok internet sitesinde yayınlandığı belirtildi.

YASAL PROSÖDÜR BAŞLADI

İslam’a ve Müslümanlara hakaret içeren, provokatif unsurlar barındıran söz konusu filmin tüm dünyada ve Türkiye’de meydana getirdiği rahatsızlık nedeniyle Ulaştırma Denizcilik ve Haberleşme Bakanı Binali Yıldırım’ın talimatlarıyla tespit edilen URL adreslerinde bulunan video içeriğinin çıkartılması için yasal prosedürün işletilmeye başlandığının ifade edildiği açıklamada, şunlar kaydedildi:”Ayrıca tüm internet servis sağlayıcılarıyla irtibat kurularak, video paylaşım sitelerinin tamamına erişim engelleme uygulanmadan, yalnızca söz konusu videoların bulunduğu URL adreslerine erişimi engelleme hususunda yapılacak çalışma konusunda da bilgi verilmiştir. Söz konusu videolara erişim, internet sağlayıcılar vasıtasıyla büyük ölçüde engellenmiştir. Uyar-kaldır yöntemi işletilerek, söz konusu URL adreslerinden video içeriğinin çıkarılması için Youtube & Google Inc. adlı şirketin Türkiye’de bulunan avukatlık bürosuna, konunun hassasiyeti izah edilerek yazılı ve sözlü bildirimde bulunulmuştur. Buna karşın Innocence of Muslims isimli filmi yayınlamaya devam eden sitelerde, video içeriğinin bulunduğu URL adreslerine mahkeme kararıyla erişimin engellenmesi için yasal süreç başlatılmıştır.”

En Son Haber

September 25, 2012
Istanbul Deemed the ‘New London’ for Middle Eastern Investors

Istanbul Deemed the ‘New London’ for Middle Eastern Investors

Leigh Cuen | September 23rd, 2012 | Comment | Email this

Istanbul, Turkey, urbanization, development, environment, building, investing

Turkey is reforming its property laws according to Reuters. Among other changes, new laws will double the amount of land foreigners are allowed to buy in Turkey. Wealthy investors from Russia and the Middle East are taking a new interest in Istanbul. According to the Knight Frank Global House Price Index, Turkish property prices are experiencing the third fastest-growth in the world, outpacing both Russia and Hong Kong.

“Istanbul is becoming a second London for the Arab world,” said Erdinc Varlibas, chief executive of Varyap Meridian. Varyap Meridian is building massive towers, luxury residential property, in what developers hope will become a financial district on Istanbul’s Asian side.

A wave of construction and urbanization is sweeping across Turkey. Next month the national government plans to begin a multi-billion dollar urban transformation project, which they predict will take two decades. Much of this new development takes place at the cost of Turkey’s historic buildings and open spaces. The national government recently made 4.1 million acres of forest available for purchase and construction. Istanbul is home to the highest number of buildings being demolished as part of this nationwide urbanization project. An estimated total of 6.5 million buildings will be demolished. In their place the government plans to construct facilities for the police, military, and additions to various medical centers.

via Istanbul Deemed the ‘New London’ for Middle Eastern Investors | Green Prophet.

September 24, 2012
Turkey Plans ‘Wall Street of Istanbul’

Country to invest $2.6 billion to once more become ‘global center of commerce’

By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne

September 18, 2012 • Reprints

It may not look like much now. But after $2.6 billion is plowed into a bare plot of ground in Atasehir over the next three years, the Istanbul suburb will be transformed into a sparkling ménage of high-rise buildings, a symbol of Turkey’s resumption of a position of power on the global commercial stage.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the plan, advanced by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is an effort to create a one-square-mile “Wall Street of Istanbul” that will be known as IFC-Istanbul—the International Financial Center. Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party was reelected last year, sees Turkey as a growing center of economic and political power that will make its presence known in the Middle East and southeastern Europe.

Environment and Urbanization Minister Erdogan Bayraktar said in the report that once IFC-Istanbul is functioning, “Istanbul will assume its historical role as a global center of commerce.” The country’s financial industry has already seen substantial growth even as its economy as a whole expanded by 8.5% in 2011.

This year alone, Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan, Kuwait’s Burgan Bank SAK and OAO Sberbank of Russia all came to the city, either buying Turkish firms or opening their own offices.

They have plenty of company; such institutions as Citigroup and HSBC Holdings already have a presence in Istanbul, although currently the financial heart of the city is located in the Levent and Maslak districts.

Not to be outdone, the Istanbul Stock Exchange has also grown, expanding 26% this year and more than doubling in size since 2009. While still very small compared with New York and London, it is a respectable size, larger by just a bit than Frankfurt’s at $51 billion and almost four times the size of Dubai’s.

While everything in Istanbul isn’t perfect—some development projects have stalled—foreign investment is soaring, with direct investment 25% higher in the first two months of 2012 than it was a year ago. CEOs and senior executives seek out the Billionaire Club for nightclub entertainment and new hotels, villas and apartments are going up all over the city—with restaurants and other amenities following to satisfy demand.

“I had no idea how big Istanbul was until I was appointed here,” said Martin Spurling in the report. Spurling, chief executive of HSBC Bank in Turkey, added, “I was shocked. In terms of its location, history, culture, human potential and hospitality, Istanbul’s a great candidate to be an international finance center. We have to explain it to the world a little better.”

via Turkey Plans ‘Wall Street of Istanbul’.

September 22, 2012
D&D London Forms Venture to Open Restaurant in Istanbul

D&D London Ltd., the restaurant group that owns Coq d’Argent and about 30 other restaurants, formed a joint venture with Borsa Restaurants and the Turkish entrepreneur Mehmet Ali Yalcindag to open in Istanbul.

Des Gunewardena, chairman and chief executive of D&D London, says he’s optimistic for the restaurant company’s prospects. D&D is expanding into Turkey in a joint venture. Source: D&D London via Bloomberg.

The venture has secured a 14,000-square-foot (1,300 square- meter) site in Trump Towers and plans to open restaurants, private dining rooms, event spaces and a bar early in 2013.

D&D, whose venues include Paternoster Chop House and Le Pont de la Tour, said that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and one-time items rose 3 percent from a year earlier to 6.7 million pounds ($10.9 million) in the 12 months ended March 31. Revenue from London restaurants open at least a year increased by four percent.

“I am very optimistic about our prospects for the current financial year and beyond,” Chairman and Chief Executive Des Gunewardena said today in an e-mailed statement. “Our new joint-venture partnership in Turkey will mark another exciting step.”

In recent weeks, D&D has added two new establishments serving the City of London financial district: South Place Hotel, and Old Bengal Warehouse, which consists of two restaurants, a wine shop and a bar.

(Richard Vines is the chief food critic for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. He is U.K. and Ireland chairman of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. Opinions expressed are his own.)

Muse highlights include Hephzibah Anderson on books, Mark Beech on music and John Mariani on wine.

via D&D London Forms Venture to Open Restaurant in Istanbul – Businessweek.

September 22, 2012
Yemeksepeti Eyes Deals After General Atlantic Buys Stake

Yemeksepeti.com, Turkey’s biggest online food-ordering company, is close to making an acquisition abroad with funds raised by selling a minority stake to buyout firm General Atlantic LLC for $44 million, its chief executive officer said.

Yemeksepeti, which controls almost the entire Turkish market, is looking at deals in Southeast Asia, South America, North Africa and the Middle East, said Nevzat Aydin, CEO of the online food-ordering company. Altogether, the company plans as many as four deals abroad in the next year, he said in an interview.

Turkish e-commerce market is forecast to grow to 33 billion liras ($18.4 billion) this year from 22 billion last year, according to Oktay Yilmaz, vice president of Electronic Trade Operators’ Association of Turkey. The country has drawn investments from EBay Inc. (EBAY), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Naspers Ltd. (NPN), and Tiger Global Management LLC.

“We would like to benefit from the expertise of General Atlantic to grow in other markets,” Aydin said. “We will be using most of the General Atlantic investment as funds for acquisitions,” he said.

“We also plan to start services by the end of this year in the areas of procurement needs for restaurants, online booking at restaurants and online selling of local delicacies from the Turkish cuisine,” Aydin said.

Asia, South America

Yemeksepeti, founded in 2001 by Aydin and three local partners, is expected to grow sales by 46 percent to as much as $190 million this year from $130 million in 2011. The company has contracts with more than 8,000 restaurants, 6,500 of them in Turkey and the rest in Russia and Dubai, Aydin said.

“There is no reason why we can’t be successful in markets like Southeast Asia and Latin America,” said Gabriel Caillaux, a managing director at General Atlantic, in a joint interview with Aydin.

Founding partners of Yemeksepeti will continue managing the company after the General Atlantic investment, its first in Turkey, Caillaux said. General Atlantic, whose investments include Facebook Inc. and the Brazilian bourse BM&FBovespa SA, has about 14 billion euros of assets under management, he said.

“Any acquisitions in Southeast Asia or South America will or elsewhere be through Yemeksepeti,” Caillaux said.

Turkey offers attractive opportunities to international investors, Caillaux said. Still, the Turkish government expects the country’s economy to grow less than 4 percent this year after 8.5 percent last year.

General Atlantic, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, also bought a 30 percent stake in Axel Springer AG’s online Digital Classifieds unit for 237 million euros ($311 million) in March.

via Yemeksepeti Eyes Deals After General Atlantic Buys Stake – Businessweek.

September 22, 2012