Tag: Construction

  • Istanbul tunnel link scheme to get underway

    Istanbul tunnel link scheme to get underway

    A $1.4bn tunnel project connecting the European and Asian sides of Istanbul is set to get underway as the project achieved its financial close.

    Istanbul-tunnelThe 5.4km Avrasya Tuneli project will see a 5.4km-long tunnel built under the Bosporus Strait with a view to alleviating traffic on two existing bridges. It will be built at 25m below sea level and will entail the building of around 14.6km of roads in total, including toll plazas, an operations building and approach roads linking the European side of the city to an existing motorway network at Kadikoy on the Asian side.

    The tunnel is being built by ATAS – a consortium between Turkish contractor Yapi Merkezi and Korean construction giant SK Engineering & Construction.

    It has been funded by a $150m from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a $350m loan from the European Investment Bank and financing from banks including Korea’s Eximbank and K-Sure with Standard Chartered, SMBC and Mizuho also participating. A hedging facility is also being provided by Deutsche Bank.

    Engineering consultancy Arup has been acting as lender’s representative on the deal and will monitor the project’s progress. Director Koray Etöz said: “We are very pleased to have played a part in bringing this hugely important project to fruition.

    “The road tunnel will bring tremendous benefits right in the heart of Istanbul, easing congestion and reinforcing trade links, so it is great that we now have all the key elements in place to get the works started. We have taken a huge step forward and we look forward to continue working with the project team to ensure that Istanbul gets a key asset securely delivered in 2017.”

    via Istanbul tunnel link scheme to get underway | ConstructionWeekOnline.com.

  • Lo-Q makes move into Turkey

    Lo-Q makes move into Turkey

    Lo-Q (LON:LOQ), the queuing solutions group, has staked its claim in Turkey through a new deal with the country’s first international mega theme park, exhibition centre and shopping centre.

    “Adding Vialand to our park portfolio adds to our already strong presence in the European theme park arena," said CEO Tom Burnet
    “Adding Vialand to our park portfolio adds to our already strong presence in the European theme park arena,” said CEO Tom Burnet

    Its Q-bot and Q-smart technologies will be launched at the new Vialand park, which spans 600,000 square metres of land at the heart of Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city.

    The systems will be installed at the theme park for two years with the option to extend the agreement for a further two.

    Chief executive Tom Burnet said: “I am delighted Gürsoy & Via Development and Management Co sought to install both our Q-bot and Q-smart solutions at Turkey’s first mega theme park.

    “This is a particularly exciting deal for Lo-Q not only because it is our first installation in Turkey, but also because Vialand marks the second customer win for our newest technology solution, Q-smart.

    “Adding Vialand to our park portfolio adds to our already strong presence in the European theme park arena.”

    Q-bot, the company’s flagship product, will be used at eight of the park’s largest rides in time for Vialand’s grand opening later this year. Q-smart meanwhile, Lo-Q’s smartphone solution that allows park visitors to book their rides in advance to avoid queuing, will be launched later in the season.

    Vialand is expected to welcome two million guests through its doors every year. It is thought the park will boost the number of local and foreign tourists visiting Istanbul by as much as 15%.

    via Lo-Q makes move into Turkey – Proactiveinvestors (UK).

  • Constantinople rising

    Constantinople rising

    Ali-Agaoglu

    Funding growth: Agaoglu plans to issue $2bn in Islamic bonds starting next month to help with the financing of Istanbul’s International Financial Centre

    It was at the age of eighteen while working for his father that Ali Agaoglu embarked on a career in construction. Now at 59, the self-made billionaire and Turkey’s eighth richest man is helping rebuild Istanbul, once the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

    Of course it helps that Agaoglu, and his construction and real estate company, Agaoglu Group have the support of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    “We’ve been friends since 1990 even before he became prime minister,” Agaoglu says in an interview with CEO Middle East. “Twenty three years ago I was building close to 200 villas near Istanbul and I sold one of those villas to the brother of the first lady and this is how we met.”

    Agaoglu speaks fondly of Erdogan, who he sees as a pillar in the country’s development next to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who led a nationalist revolution and founded the secular republic of Turkey, and Turgut Ozal, who led Turkey out of military rule and ushered in an era of privatisation that helped develop the country’s economy.

    “He is a visionary, a strong leader,” Agaoglu says of Erdogan. “The GDP of our country was $220bn when he took office and in these ten years our GDP has increased four times to $880bn. In 2023 we are expecting a GDP of $2 trillion. Erdogan is a very strong leader supported by more than 50 percent of society and he is unique.”

    Part of Erdogan’s vision has been the building of a financial centre to position Istanbul as an international financial hub by 2023, marking the country’s 100th anniversary as a republic. Turkey’s economy today, in stark contrast to its economic woes of the late 1990s and 2001, is booming. Unemployment is declining, and industries are expanding.

    The country’s economy is estimated to have grown 3 percent last year due to the debt crisis in Europe and contracting economies there. In 2011, Turkey recorded GDP growth of about 8.5 percent and 9.2 percent the year before.

    Economic growth over the past ten years has also served as a catalyst for the urban renewal and gentrification of Istanbul. That is very much in line with Erdogan’s vision to widen the size of the city to meet increasing demand from a growing population and internal migration in addition to the construction of new buildings to replace older ones prone to collapsing in the event of an earthquake.

    For Agaoglu Group, one of Turkey’s largest construction companies, the country’s development and the firm’s evolution go hand in hand and it’s launched a charm offensive to attract businessmen from the Arab world to invest in the country’s property market. The construction industry accounts for about 4 percent of Turkey’s GDP.

    Agaoglu plans to issue $2bn in sukuk, or Islamic bonds, starting next month to help with the financing of Istanbul’s International Financial Centre.

    The company “has been undertaking construction work of the financial centre and we will be issuing some new financial instruments such as murabaha, sukuk and real estate certificates,” Agaoglu says. “We have been carrying out the preparation work for all of those instruments. With this new set of financial instruments we will be offering more to the Gulf region.”

    Turkey issued its first ever Islamic bond of $1.5bn in September which saw strong demand from the oil-rich Gulf. Last year about $144bn of sukuk were issued, according to Islamic Finance Information Service. The country, which is the sixteenth largest economy in the world, attracted about $16bn in foreign direct investment in 2011, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. That’s more than the inflows to countries such as Korea, Malaysia, Argentina, Peru, Belgium, Denmark and Portugal.

    via Constantinople rising – Construction – ArabianBusiness.com.

  • Turkey wants to share its housing experience

    Turkey wants to share its housing experience

    JEDDAH: ABDUL HADI HABTOOR

    Sunday 24 March 2013

    Last Update 24 March 2013 2:32 am

    alibabcanAli Babacan, deputy prime minister of Turkey, has said that relations between his country and Saudi Arabia are built on strong and solid historic and cultural foundations.

    “Saudi Arabia and Turkey are working together side by side in numerous regional and international organizations within the framework of the G20 countries that form the largest economic bloc in the world,” he said in an interview.

    Indicating that Turkish developers are keen on executing more infrastructural projects and housing in the Kingdom, he said: “The Turkish experience in building is based on the cooperation of the state and the private sector.” Buildings in this regard include houses for low-income families implemented by the private sector under the supervision of the government. The other is for middle class citizens but fully executed by the private sector.

    “We take the needs of citizens into account as much as possible, in addition to environmental impact,” he said, adding that Saudi Arabia should adopt the most suitable model on both the financial and social levels. “The largest possible number of houses should be built at affordable prices for all classes of society.”

    In the field of trade, he pointed out that exports from his country to the Kingdom stood at $ 3.3 billion against $ 4.8 billion in imports from Saudi Arabia. “Last year, volumes of commercial exchange increased by more than $ 1 billion,” he added.

    He said the economic transformation of his country relied on long-term and highly transparent economic policy. “Political stability is a very important factor in this process,” he pointed out.

    Babacan said that the projected Turkish economic growth is 4 percent this year, coupled with an increase in employment rates and exports to $ 158 billion.

    Turkey recently approved regulations to allow foreign ownership of real estate and property. “Citizens of the GCC will benefit greatly from this regulation,” he said.

    via Turkey wants to share its housing experience | ArabNews.

  • Istanbul’s $2.6bn financial centre gets underway

    Istanbul’s $2.6bn financial centre gets underway

    Global design and planning firm HOK has announced that construction work has commenced on the $2.6bn Istanbul International Financial Centre (IIFC) project in Turkey.

    istanbul-ifcSprawling over a 170-acre site on the city’s Asian side, located between the Atasehir and Ümraniye districts, the IIFC will house the head offices of the country’s financial market governing bodies, state-owned and private banks, and related businesses.

    The development includes approximately 4,180,000m2 of office, residential, hotel and park space, and will house four districts, focusing on culture, commerce, civic functions and governance.

    The project also includes a transportation system comprising a new rail station and subway line. Utilities and communications are being sustainably integrated into a podium that will be surfaced on top by a new urban park.

    The construction of the project is being undertaken by Turkish construction company Akdeniz Group, which has commenced the project with the start of excavation work at the site.

    The IIFC, also supported in the Arup in the planning phase, is due to come online by the end of 2016.

    via Istanbul’s $2.6bn financial centre gets underway | ConstructionWeekOnline.com.

  • Turkey’s overseas construction projects worth 26.1 bln USD in 2012

    Turkey’s overseas construction projects worth 26.1 bln USD in 2012

    ANKARA, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) — The total value of projects the Turkish construction industry secured abroad in 2012 was 26.1 billion U.S. dollars, increasing 31 percent compared to that of 2011, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said in a statement on Tuesday.

    Noting that contractors secured 433 projects in about 100 countries last year, Caglayan said, “Our construction industry has achieved historic success; this (26.1 billion dollars) is a record figure.”

    In the list of countries where contractors won projects, Turkmenistan and Iraq stood out as the leaders, said Caglayan, adding that in terms of the share of projects, Turkmenistan tops the list with 18.8 percent, while Iraq, which comes second, is 16. 8 percent.

    Construction companies got projects for the first time in 2012 in Colombia, Papua New Guinea, Somalia and Peru, said Caglayan.

    via Turkey’s overseas construction projects worth 26.1 bln USD in 2012 — Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 — English Window to China New.