ITS BOOM TIME IN TURKEY

WORDS: KAREN CREED

With its Turquoise coasts and a string of sandy beaches, Turkey lures millions of visitors every year. While it is a reputable tourist destination, the country has been branching itself out to become much more than a holiday hotspot. Perched at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, Turkey has become a strategic base for international business. And with a rapidly emerging market of 68 million people, today it is one of the key trading partners of the European Union.

If there was someone sure of Turkey’s spiralling economic success, it is The Irish Times journalist Lara Marlowe. “Turkey is already a hub, and with so many banks and companies, it is thriving as a business centre.” Lara spent five weeks in Turkey last Autumn to seek an answer to the question ‘Is Turkey European?’ She was based in Istanbul, but also travelled to the capital, Ankara, the Aegean coast and Kayseri, in central Anatolia. Some days Lara felt like she was definitely in Europe. “Other days I wasn’t so sure.”

One thing Lara is certain of is the prospects for women in Turkey. “There may be very few women in business at the top end of the scale. But there is a lot of opportunity for western women as the economy is booming, between six and seven per cent.” Lara strengthens this fact from an encounter with a Wall Street journalist. “She was a woman about my own age who had become a private consultant. She had a chauffeur driven car and was obviously very prosperous. She proves that if you are an enthusiastic Westerner you can do very well in Turkey.”

Istanbul is the heartbeat of Turkey for doing business. The city is fast recalling its glory days as the capital of three empires, riding a record wave of foreign investment. $6 billion flowed into the country in January 2007 and there has been a blast of big names entering the country in the past two years, like Fortis. Istanbul may not be the official capital but it is the country’s financial, cultural, and historic centre. As the money pours in, the cityscape is rapidly changing and is now home to gleaming skyscrapers, top-notch restaurants, glamorous nightlife, and even its very own Harvey Nichols department store.

In this rapidly changing environment, one thing remains the same, the small business world. Similar to Ireland, everybody knows each other in the high business circles in Turkey. However most business is done according to verbal agreements and written commitments are difficult to obtain. While this may seem like an old-fashioned method of doing business, Turkish people are smart, intelligent, with high morality and enthusiasm. Above all, they are hardworking. Lara would vouch for this. “They are very hard-working. A sign of this is in Istanbul where everything seems to be open all the time. I was getting up at seven to get my paper and coffee and these places were still open at seven at night.” Just like their attitude to work, the education standards are high in the young generation. Almost everybody knows a second language. According to Lara the standard is particularly high in Ankara and Istanbul. “I met an EU official in Ankara who said they have some of the best schools in Europe.”

Read more about Turkey in the April | May 2008 issue of WMB, on newsstands now

GOOD TO KNOW

• Turkish currency is the Lira (TL). Don’t exchange your money until
you get to Turkey as the rate is generally much lower at home.

• Turkey’s time zone is Eastern European Time
( +2 GMT )