panorama Perspective: Turkey

EAST MEETS WEST ISTANBUL, straddling the Bosphorus and with a foot in two continents, is Europe’s largest city. Beautiful and historic, it has 13m inhabitants and, according to the Forbes 2010 World’s Billionaires List, is home to 28 billionaires, ranking fourth behind Moscow, New York and London. Istanbul is Turkey’s largest industrial

centre, employing 20 per cent of its working labour. It is home to half of the country’s top 500 industrial corporations and generates 55 per cent of its trade. Key sectors include manufacturing, construction, energy, retail, pharmaceutical, healthcare, ICT, fi nancial services, maritime, logistics and media. The city is also a major tourist destination. Its pivotal economic role at the junction

of East and West; its rising population coupled with increasing domestic demand;

its accelerating infrastructure investments and growing industrial and trading activities make Istanbul attractive to big businesses. BP, Vodafone, HSBC, Marks & Spencer, GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Harvey Nichols are among the UK companies operating here. RMJM, Mott Macdonald and DLA Piper also have offi ces. The privatisation of state-owned assets

including natural gas, electricity, water distribution, ports, railways, bridges and highways presents opportunities for UK expertise. New opportunities also exist in infrastructure and PPP, with projects like the third Bosphorus bridge and Marmaray Tunnel connecting the Asian and European sides of Istanbul. Contact Sarah Mooney, head of

UK Trade & Investment at the British Consulate-General in Istanbul, email sarah.mooney@fco.gov.uk

RISING STAR GAZIANTEP is the most developed city in southeast Turkey. Established sectors include textiles, agro-food, chemicals, plastics and construction materials. Renewable energy and solar power, tourism, health and textile technology offer new opportunities. Proximity to Syria, Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia pose an economic advantage, as does the city’s Organised Industrial Zone, Free Zone and the newly established Technopark within Gaziantep University. Gaziantep’s Chamber of Commerce and Business Development Centre are establishing an Industrial Design and Modelling Centre to attract international collaboration. Contact Taclan Topal, inward

investment manager at the British Consulate General in Istanbul, email taclan.topal@fco.gov.uk

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