|
|
|
There
are good reasons why Turkey is called ‘the gateway to Europe and
Asia.’Its strategic location has long been regarded as an important
link between diverse parts of the world.
Turkey sits at the
cross-road of two continents, and is an ideal centre for business
looking for location at the heart of Euro-Asia. The proximity to CIS
(Commonwealth of Independent States)) as well as to Middle Eastern and
North African countries provides excellent access to world markets.
This position is further enhanced through the Customs Union with the
European Union.
Turkey is a rich source of well-educated,
internationally experienced, executive talent. It is also worth noting
that there are many experienced executives who are located in nearby
countries.
With a diverse and cosmopolitan culture, Turkish
executives find that it is very easy to adapt to other environments.
Language barriers are also easily overcome, particularly Turkic
Republics in the CIS where most languages are dialects of Turkish.
A fast developing Economy
The
Turkish economy has shown remarkable performance with its steady growth
over the last eight years. A sound macroeconomic strategy in
combination with prudent fiscal policies and major structural reforms
in effect since 2001, has integrated the Turkish economy into the
globalized world, while transforming the country into one of the major
recipients of FDI in its region. The structural reforms, hastened by
Turkey’s EU accession process, have paved the way for comprehensive
changes in a number of areas. The main objectives of these efforts were
to increase the role of the private sector in the Turkish economy, to
enhance the efficiency and resiliency of the financial sector, and to
place the social security system on a more solid foundation. As these
reforms have strengthened the macroeconomic fundamentals of the
country, inflation drastically decreased to 6.4 percent by the end of
2010, down from 30 percent in 2002, while the EU-defined general
government nominal debt stock fell to 41.6 percent from 74 percent in a
period of eight years between 2002 and 2010. Hence, Turkey has been
meeting the “60 percent-EU Maastricht criteria” for the public debt
stock since 2004. As the GDP levels more than tripled to USD 736
billion in 2010, up from USD 231 billion in 2002, GDP per capita soared
to USD 10,079, up from USD 3,500 in the given period. The visible
improvements in the Turkish economy have also boosted foreign trade,
while exports reached USD 114 billion by the end of 2010, up from USD
36 billion in 2002. Similarly, tourism revenues, which were around USD
8.5 billion in 2002, exceeded USD 20 billion in 2010.Significant
improvements in such a short period of time have registered Turkey on
the world economic scale as an exceptional emerging economy, the 16th
largest economy in the world and the 6th largest economy when compared
with the EU countries, according to GDP figures (at PPP) in 2010. Prior
to the recent global recession which hit all economies throughout the
world, the Turkish economy sustained strong economic growth for 27
quarters consecutively, making it one of the fastest growing economies
in Europe. However, the global financial crisis has considerably
challenged the macroeconomic and financial stability of many economies
by adversely affecting financing facilities and external demand, thus
causing a significant slowdown in all global economic activities.
While
the financial markets in Turkey proved resilient to the crisis, the
decrease in external demand and slowing international capital flows
have had a negative impact on the economy, thus causing an economic
contraction in 2009. However, the perceived positive developments in
the economy showed signs of a fast recovery beginning as early as the
last quarter of 2009, with an impressive 5.9 percent economic growth
rate, hence making Turkey one of the fastest recovering economies in
the world. Its robust economic growth continued in 2010 as well, having
reached 12 percent, 10.3 percent, 5.2 percent and 9.2 percent in the
first, second, third
and fourth quarters of 2010
respectively, thus achieving an overall growth rate of 8.9 percent
throughout 2010. Turkey, with such a robust economic performance, stood
out as the fastest growing economy in Europe and one of the fastest
growing economies in the world.
Read more: Information about Working conditions in Turkey from www.invest.gov.tr
|
|
|
