Turkey

Despite substantial roadway expansion in the last five years, the country has struggled to keep up with rapid growth of car ownership, often resulting in congestion. Much more investment is necessary, not least because economic progress is creating new infrastructure needs. The most ambitious of several proposed highway expansion plans is the North Marmara Highway, which would link Izmir and...

The construction sector is riding high on the back of a raft of major infrastructure projects, particularly in road and bridge development, and an ongoing urban regeneration plan that will see one-third of the country’s houses torn down and rebuilt. After shrinking in 2009 as the result of a financial crisis, the sector helped lead the economic recovery by growing by 18.3% and 11.5% in 2010 and...

Accounting for between a quarter and a third of GDP, Turkey’s industrial sector is a global player in areas as diverse as automotive, ready-to-wear, chemicals and retail. A major source of Europe’s industrial imports – as well as a destination for the continent’s exports – Turkey also carried out significant trade in industrial goods with the Middle East, Central Asia and beyond. Despite the...

Now ranked the world’s 17th biggest economy with a GDP of nearly $790bn, Turkey, the prime minister claims, will become the 10th largest in 10 years’ time. To fuel that kind of growth, the country needs energy. Situated between the hydrocarbons-rich Middle East and energy-hungry Europe, but with negligible reserves of its own, Turkey has long been viewed as a transit state. While that...

The Turkish insurance sector is dominated by 25 multinational insurance companies, which held some 52% of the market in 2012. Gross insurance premiums grew 15.5% in nominal lira terms, or 8.8% in real terms, in 2012, and subscriber growth reached 18% that year. Protecting non-vehicular property accounted for 22% of the insurance market in 2012, with the largest segments fire (9%) and earthquake...

Following the 2012 enactment of the new capital markets law, the Istanbul Stock exchange was merged with the Istanbul Gold Exchange and renamed Borsa Istanbul. Following a dismal performance in 2011, equity markets staged a dramatic recovery in 2012, with the dollar-based version of the Borsa Istanbul’s broadest index, the BIST 100, coming within 4% of its record high in January 2013. The...