REAL ESTATE
Turkey is one of the most promising real estate markets in Europe, and the mantra “location, location, location” rings especially true for this country. Strategically situated at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, and home to almost 81 million people, Turkey offers great opportunities for real estate developers and investors by combing a large construction sector with growing commercial and industrial output.
TOURISM
Turkey is terrific at tourism and is currently the 10thmost popular visitor destination in the world. It attracted almost 39 million tourists in 2017 thanks to its unique combination of history, culture, nature and climate. Hotels are struggling to keep up with the rate at which they’re needed, and there’s plenty of space for new building projects to help fulfil that need.
ENERGY AND RENEWABLES
Turkey has become one of the fastest growing energy markets in the world, paralleling its economic growth over the last 15 years. In addition to having a huge domestic market. Turkey occupies a strategic location between a number of major energy consumers and suppliers, and thus serves as a regional energy hub. Opportunities for renewable forms of energy production – hydro, wind, solar, and geothermal – are abundant in Turkey, and encouraging policies backed by favourable feed – in traffic are expected to increase their share in the national grid in the coming years.
AGRICULTURE AND FOOD
A favourable climate and an abundance of arable land and water supplies has made Turkey an international home of agriculture – the 7thin the world, to be exact. The food industry employs almost 20% of the working population, and also accounted for 6.1% of Turkey’s GDP in 2016. Contributing to the success of Turkey’s food industry are the young population, a dynamic private sector economy, and substantial international visitors.
FINANCE
The Turkish financial sector proved resilient during the global financial turmoil in 2009 as well as the ensuing economic crisis thanks to the regulatory reforms and structural overhaul that the government implemented in the wake of the country’s own financial meltdown in the early 2000’s. In fact, the reforms in the sector boosted investor confidence so much that the industry has attracted USD 51 billion over the past 15 years. Banking dominates the Turkish financial sector, accounting for more than 70 percent of overall financial services, while insurance services and other financial activities also show significant growth potential. There are 51 banks in Turkey (33 deposit banks, 13 development and investment banks, and 5 participation banks). Out of the 51 banks, 21 hold significant foreign capital (30% of total assets are held by foreign investors).
BUSINESS SERVICES
With its previously mentioned ideal geographical location for business, Turkey has invested in its business services. Engineering, architectural consulting, technical testing and call centres are all of a world class standard. Knowledge – based services such as accounting, legal advice and consulting are also well established and readily available.
MINING AND METALS
Harboring a large expanse of the western portion of the Tethyan – Eurasian Metallogenic Belt – which is an ophiolite extending from the Alps to south-eastern Europe through Turkey, the lesser Caucasus, Iran, and the Himalayas on to China – Turkey offers proven potential for mining investors. As the least exploited portion of the belt, Turkey stands out as a very promising region for companies engaged in mineral extraction. Mining in Turkey has mainly been limited to surface excavations, meaning huge potential with deep drilling is awaiting international investors.