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  • A guide to exporting to Turkey

    A guide to exporting to Turkey

    Turkey may not be the most obvious export market for British SMEs, but with a large growing economy, it could be worth considering

    • Rosie Niven
    • Guardian Professional,
    Egyptian Spice Bazaar Ist 008

    With a population of 73 million, Turkey has a large pool of potential customers Photograph: Alamy

    Straddling two continents, Turkey has been an important trading post going back to Roman times and earlier. In 2012, Turkey is the world’s 18th and Europe’s seventh-largest economy. With a population of 73 million, the eastern Mediterranean country has a large pool of potential consumers.

    More importantly, Turkey has a growing economy. Its gross domestic product grew by 8.5% in 2011, making it the fastest-growing economy in Europe. It is estimated that Turkey will be in the top 10 GDP economies by 2023. And, with close links with both Europe and Middle Eastern economies, Turkey remains an important staging post for businesses entering Asian markets.

    Last month, the UK’s deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, led a British business delegation to Turkey to discuss possible new deals with their Turkish counterparts. Those who participated included CEOs from companies such as Arup, Mott McDonald and Cella Energy.

    A number of British high-street names are already present in Turkey, including Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Vodafone and Laura Ashley. In the past year, Turkish imports of British goods and services rose by 20%, and the government has an ambition of doubling bilateral trade between 2010 and 2015.

    But it is not just big businesses that are able to access the opportunities presented by Turkey’s booming economy. More and more SMEs are taking advantage of cheap short-haul flights to tap into markets in Istanbul, Ankara and other major Turkish business hubs.

    One of these SMEs is Leicestershire-based Pera Consulting, which signed a contract worth £2m with a Turkish government agency 18 months ago and is now bidding for work that could be worth up to £50m. Among Pera’s services are business advice and management training provided to governments to help increase business productivity, innovation, export and growth. These services are particularly relevant in growing economies like Turkey’s, says Tanya Allen, Pera’s head of marketing and communications. “Turkey offers significant opportunities for us with our experience in designing business growth stimulation programmes.”

    Opportunities

     

    Business and management consultancies like Pera are among the SMEs that are finding their sectors in demand. According to UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), other areas of opportunity include energy and renewables, ICT, defence technology, education and skills and infrastructure. The main UK exports to Turkey in 2011 were machinery and mechanical appliances, pharmaceuticals, iron and steel and plastics.

    Pravin Jethwa’s company Amazing Interactives produces 3D software for clients in the education sector. Their route into the Turkish market followed a trade fair where they met a number of potential clients from Turkey where there is currently lots of investment in school building. One of the meetings eventually turned into a deal. “They looked at our software and liked it and trialled it in some of their schools in Istanbul,” he said. “That gave us a foothold in Turkey.”

    Like many businesses exploring overseas markets, Amazing Interactives accessed support from UKTI in the form of an Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS), which identified the markets that had potential for their company and a list of possible clients there.

    Amazing Interactives also found that its client and suppliers could provide support. The trust that owned the schools it supplied was able to organise an event in Turkey to showcase the company’s 3D software. Texas Instruments, a company that supplied hardware to Amazing Interactives, also wanted to increase its profile in Turkey through this event and agreed to pay for Jethwa’s flights and accommodation.

    Since Amazing Interactives won its first contract in Turkey, its products have been procured by other schools in the same group, and Jethwa says that he has had interest from institutions elsewhere in the country. That poses new challenges for Amazing Interactives, who for the first time are hitting the language barrier. Their previous client, a top school in Istanbul, was happy with the software being in English. “One of the issues now is that potential clients want it in Turkish,” he explains.

    Trade missions

     

    Pera dealt directly with a Turkish government agency initially, which provided some support. This agency helped it understand the barriers Turkish businesses were facing and how Pera could help in these areas.

    But, as Pera widens its interests in the market, it is making more use of other support. One source of support that Pera has called on is UKTI, which has carried out an OMIS on Turkey for the company. Earlier this year, Pera’s executive chairman John Hill went on one of UKTI’s trade missions to Turkey. “It was highly beneficial in opening doors that would have taken a lot longer to realise otherwise,” says Allen. “For the new ventures we are pursuing, we have identified a local partner to work with, an organisation with a very similar ethos and reputation to ourselves within the business community.”

    Allen recommends that other SMEs should consider using the support available from UKTI and find themselves a good local partner with connections throughout the country, not just in Istanbul and Ankara.

    “Global competition is fierce, so SMEs must ensure they have the best advice before tackling any market,” says Allen. “Demonstrating a long-term commitment to Turkey and integrating with the local business community and with key intermediaries is absolutely vital,” she advises.

    But Allen says that the Turkish market is one that is worth pursuing because “it represents not only a high-growth economy, but one that is at the juncture between Europe, Asia and the Middle East”.

    UKTI appears to agree. Forecasts predict that, by 2025, Turkey will be one of the top 10 economies in the world and UKTI has identified it as a priority market, noting that its “recent economic growth record, its talented, young workforce and its geographical location as a prime hub for regional market access make Turkey a hugely attractive destination for UK and European trade and investment”.

    But UKTI has also identified how Turkey offers significant untapped potential by British business and has sought to strengthen bilateral ties.

    Allen is optimistic that Turkey will go on offering export potential for SMEs. “It’s been a trading post for thousands of years, and that is likely to continue,” she explains. “Turkey has a great future, and it will be a thriving market for years to come.

    “It won’t always be easy,” she adds. “But, with the right local support, it’ll certainly be worthwhile.”

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  • Jimmy Savile ‘Was Yorkshire Ripper Suspect’

    Jimmy Savile ‘Was Yorkshire Ripper Suspect’

    sav11Jimmy Savile was questioned by detectives investigating the Yorkshire Ripper murder, West Yorkshire Police confirmed on Wednesday.

    A senior officer who worked on the inquiry revealed the disgraced DJ was a suspect in the notorious case more than 30 years ago on Tuesday.

    John Stainthorpe, a former detective with West Yorkshire Police, said the Leeds-born presenter was approached after an anonymous tip-off.

    Mr Stainthorpe, who spent 40 years in the force, told ITV’s Calendar News: “When the Ripper was really active, one of the suspects put forward by the public was, in fact, Jimmy Savile.

    “Obviously, it was not he, but he was interviewed along with many others.”

    He said the person who reported Savile was “aiming in the right direction”.

    “Child perverts soon become child killers,” he added.

    The police force confirmed Savile may have been questioned, but did not reveal when he was interviewed or why.

    A spokesman said: “As with thousands of other men in Leeds at the time, he may at some time have been approached by detectives on the investigation.

    “What is without doubt is that Savile was clearly not the Yorkshire Ripper.”

    Peter Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women in 1981 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He is held at Broadmoor and has been told he will never be freed.

    Sutcliffe has jumped to the defence of Savile, who he says befriended him during regular visits to the high security hospital.

    Dismissing claims the late DJ abused around 300 victims over six decades, he said those making allegations were “jumping on the bandwagon”.

    Savile, who died a year ago aged 84, is now believed to be one of the UK’s most prolific child abusers.

    It comes after he was linked to fresh allegations of abuse at a care home in north Wales.

    The Sun newspaper claimed boys were molested for his “entertainment” at Bryn Estyn in the 1970s.

    Lawyers representing the disgraced DJ’s alleged victims have said they have notified his estate executors, the BBC and three hospitals that they plan to launch damage claims against them.

    The former presenter’s £4m estate has already been frozen by executors NatWest.

     

     

     

    Sky News

  • British Soldier Stabbed To Death In South Cyprus

    British Soldier Stabbed To Death In South Cyprus

    A British soldier has been stabbed to death during a fight with UK tourists in a Cyprus nightclub, police have said.

    Cypriot police said four off-duty soldiers stationed on the island got involved in an altercation with three tourists in the early hours of Sunday morning.

    One of the tourists then allegedly drew a switch blade knife and stabbed the teenage soldier, according to police spokesman Georgios Economou.

    He said: “Today at around 3.30am while a group of British soldiers from Dhekelia garrison were enjoying themselves at a club in Ayia Napa they had a confrontation with three of their compatriots.

    “During the confrontation one of the three drew what is believed to be a knife injuring the soldier in the chest.”

    He was pronounced dead on arrival at Famagusta General Hospital in nearby Paralimni.

    Connie Pierce, a British military spokeswoman, said the incident took place in a part of Ayia Napa that is off limits to British soldiers because of past trouble there.

    The Ministry of Defence confirmed a British soldier was killed following a fight on the island. The dead soldier has not been identified.

    Britain retains two military bases on the island after the former colony gained independence in 1960, with around 9,000 troops stationed there.

    Ayia Napa is a popular resort destination for young holidaymakers, especially British tourists attracted by the nightlife.

     

     

     

    Sky News

  • UK: Savile took girls to Leeds General Infirmary Hospital

    UK: Savile took girls to Leeds General Infirmary Hospital

    jJimmy Savile would regularly take teenage girls to a hospital block alone, a former porter has claimed.
    Terry Pratt said the late Jim’ll Fix It star was frequently handed a key to  the nurses’ accommodation building at Leeds General Infirmary during the late 1980s. Mr Pratt told the BBC that Savile would arrive at Leeds General Infirmary with the girls in the early hours of the morning and then leave before dawn.

    He said: “He would go up and the lad on the desk would say ‘Here’s the key, Jim, make sure I get it back’. He’d take the key and would walk out and the two women would follow him towards the nurses’ home. He was going into a property he had no right to go into. He wasn’t a doctor and he wasn’t a nurse.”
    Mr Pratt said he became suspicious when Savile began arriving in the middle of the night with different girls who seemed “star-struck” and were “not streetwise”.
    But nobody questioned the late presenter’s behaviour at the time, he said, adding: “We looked at him as a sort of film star, a cult figure.”
    Mr Pratt said the celebrity, who was a volunteer porter and fundraiser for the hospital, would make several late-night visits a month where he would ask for the key to the accommodation block, spend a few hours there and then leave at 5am.
    Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said it was “shocked” by the claims surrounding Leeds General Infirmary and has vowed to help the Metropolitan Police with inquiries into the alleged abuse.
    A spokesman for the trust said: “We continue to be shocked by each new allegation. It is important that they are investigated properly. Once again, we urge anybody who has any concerns to contact us so that we can pass information on to the police or to contact the police directly via the NSPCC helpline, 0808 800 5000.
    “The trust is in contact with senior detectives from the Metropolitan Police and we have indicated our intention to help with their inquiries. If there are any issues which need to be addressed following the police investigation, then we will take action.”
    Meanwhile, councillors in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, have called for his name to be immediately removed from the honour board for freemen of the borough until the Metropolitan Police concludes investigations.

    Press Association

  • UK Savile probe to investigate doctors

    UK Savile probe to investigate doctors

    JimmyInformation on three doctors who worked at hospitals where Jimmy Savile had links has been passed to police amid claims they were involved in a network of child abusers connected with the disgraced presenter.

    The Guardian said the trio were alleged to have abused young people in their care and were identified by victims who came forward in the last two weeks.

    Police are examining individuals who might have had access to vulnerable children, some of whom were associated with Savile, the newspaper said.

    The former DJ, who died last year aged 84, had a bedroom at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, an office and living quarters at Broadmoor and widespread access to Leeds General Infirmary.

    Since the allegations about Savile emerged the children’s charity the NSPCC said it has received 161 calls relating to him, which have been passed to police.

    A decision not to prosecute Savile over abuse allegations in 2009 will come under the spotlight again after the Prime Minister said Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer would review legal papers from the case.

    Surrey Police submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) containing references to four potential offences, including an allegation of indecent assault on a young girl at a children’s home, but it was dropped due to a lack of evidence.

    David Cameron told MPs it was essential that lessons were learned from the scandal of Savile’s decades of sexual abuse.

    Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, he said: “The Director of Public Prosecutions has confirmed that his principal legal adviser will again review the papers from the time when a case was put to the CPS for prosecution. The Director of Public Prosecutions specifically is going to consider what more can be done to alert relevant authorities where there are concerns that a prosecution is not taken forward. The Government will do everything it can do, other institutions must do what they can do, to make sure that we learn the lesson of this and it can never happen again.”

    Mr Starmer said the evidence was considered by prosecutors, but because the alleged victims would not support police action, it was decided not to proceed. As the number of allegations against Savile has snowballed, Mr Starmer asked the chief Crown prosecutor for the South East, Roger Coe-Salazar, to look at the files again. He concluded the correct decision was taken, although the files will again be reviewed “out of an abundance of caution”.

     

     

    Press Association

     

  • Addressing General Assembly, UN expert warns of impact of judicial corruption on human rights

    Addressing General Assembly, UN expert warns of impact of judicial corruption on human rights

    gabriel knuela24 October 2012 – Corruption in judicial systems is threatening the protection of human rights, a United Nations independent expert said today, urging governments to implement policies to strengthen the rule of law to combat this practice.

    “The pervasiveness of corruption in the judiciary and the legal profession, whether one off or endemic, is very worrying because it directly undermines the rule of law and the ability of the judiciary to guarantee the protection of human rights,” the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, told the General Assembly while presenting it with her latest annual report.

    “A judiciary that is not independent can easily be corrupted or co-opted by interests other than those of applying the law in a fair and impartial manner,” she said. “Strengthening the judiciary from within, as well as providing all the safeguards for its independence vis-à-vis other public officials and private actors, is essential in combating and preventing instances of judicial corruption.”

    Ms. Knaul noted that corruption in the judiciary has the potential to victimize those that do not have the means to play by the informal rules set by a corrupt system.

    “Corruption in the judiciary discourages people from resorting to the formal justice system, thereby diverting dispute settlements towards informal systems that more than often do not abide by the basic principles of impartiality, fairness, non-discrimination and due process,” she said.

    Mechanisms of accountability, the Special Rapporteur underlined, should be put in place to investigate acts of corruption and they should be developed with the full participation of the actors concerned.

    “I strongly believe that the existing international principles and standards on human rights and corruption provide adequate guidance on how to tackle judicial corruption while respecting the independence of the justice system and human rights,” she said.

    Ms. Knaul also emphasized that judges, prosecutors and lawyers are in a unique position to tackle the wider phenomenon of corruption in other instances of the public and private sectors, and that “anti-corruption bodies should be established or developed to effectively assist judicial actors to combat corruption and to implement and strengthen transparency within the public sector.”

    Independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back, in an unpaid capacity, on specific human rights themes.

    UN News Centre