The Turkish business world welcomed the new incentive package, which was announced by the Prime Minister, with excitement as it has raised hopes that the markets will take a deep breath amid the uncertain atmosphere caused by the ongoing global financial turbulence.

Nihat Ergün, Minister of Trade and Industry Speaking to reporters in Ankara said that the government will address investments that are currently under way in a new stimulus package. The minister added that a number of investment projects had been started prior to the announcement of a recent incentive package and were still in progress. Entrepreneurs said that Turkey, which has been indirectly affected by the crisis as the consequence of a spillover effect, should manage to free itself from the grip of the global economic meltdown.

A previous stimulus package that took effect in March saw many consumers reach for their savings rather than bank loans, which remain costly despite huge rate cuts and now the government recently embarked upon another stimulus package, this time focusing on boosting investment. With the new package, entrepreneurs will have a corporate tax rate of between 2 and 10 percent, depending on the region they invest in. The government recently divided regions into four categories, based on their current economic development level and possible investment opportunities.

With regard to reactions from the business communities concerning the new package, Mr. Nihat Ergün said many welcomed the plan, calling it satisfactory. “There are some remaining details we have to iron out, but work is under way to this end,” he said.

Leading figures from the Turkish business world said they welcomed this package. The president of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Murat Yalçintas, described the package as “extremely coherent and inspiring.” He added that the government was taking the right step against the crisis and that small businesses will be relieved by the incentives introduced in the package and also the new package will inspire confidence and improve morale in the domestic markets., Hazim Sesli, The president of the Young Businessmen's Association of Turkey assessed the package is very positive and also “encouraging” for the future of the markets

Banu Kıvcı Tokatlı, Finans Yatırım chief economist, said the new incentives will provide support for the real estate, auto and home appliances sectors, which were battered by the crisis more than any other sector, preventing the recession from becoming deeper.

Labels: Economy

Despite the disruption of the global economy affecting Turkey's investment climate, overseas investors who invest in Turkey will not lose out, but will instead make considerable profit, according to reports.

According to Deloitte Turkey’s traditional Venture Capital Research, 92 percent of survey participants said they will look at acquisitions within six months, while 88 percent said they have no plans to withdraw from Turkey. Anthony Wilson, Deloitte Turkey Corporate Finance – Partner in charge said that investors still maintain their long-term confidence in establishments located in Turkey. As soon as this environment of uncertainty dissolves, they will obviously restart investments.

The country, running a trillion dollar GDP based on purchasing power parity, is the fifth largest economy of Europe after Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain, respectively. Recently there has also been an increase in Turkey's permanent business activities. According to the Turkish Treasury's report, foreign direct investments from the Middle Eastern countries have jumped from USD 495 million in 2007 to USD 1.9 billion in the 2009. In addition, Middle Eastern companies have established 471 new companies in Turkey throughout that time period.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sounded confident as he was unveiling a multibillion lira stimulus package as Turkey's market is rallying on encouraging news from domestic fronts and international markets. In a vote of confidence in the Turkish economy, the Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) has affirmed its BB-rating on Turkey's foreign and local currency long-term senior debts. "The outlook of the ratings is stable," the statement said. The report added, however, "A new standby arrangement with the IMF is expected to play an important role in improving the country's international confidence, especially when the economy deteriorates sharply."

Labels: Investment-property, Market-Trends

The Turkish Government rolled out plans to secure market demand and recently decided to focus more on the Middle Eastern tourism market to strengthen mutual relations in political, economic, cultural and tourism sectors.

Representatives from the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Turkish tourism agencies came together to discuss mutual tourism relations in a meeting organized jointly by the Turkish Hoteliers' Association (TUROB) and Turkish Airlines (THY) in Riyadh. Majid al-Hokair, chairman of the al-Hokair Group and vice president of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, presided over the meeting. They discussed the problems facing tourism sector relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey and Tourism between the two countries is expected to receive a considerable boost with both countries offering common cultural values and appealing tourist attractions.

Earlier, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said that Turkey's relations with Saudi Arabia, based on mutual respect, dialogue, joint history and cultural values, have reached a pleasing level. "Saudi Arabia is the biggest country in the Gulf region and they plan to make infrastructure investments worth 200 billion Euros by the year 2010. There could be many projects for Turkish businessmen, especially contractors, in Saudi Arabia," Gul said. The trade volume between the two countries currently exceeds USD 5.5 billion and the Turkish government expects this to increase to USD 10 billion by 2010.

"Turkey is not the old Turkey. We have changed our investment and trade regulations, providing Turkish and foreign investors equal rights," the president said and praised Saudis investing in Turkey.

Dr. Salih Özer, head of Turkey's Riyadh Culture and Tourism Office said Turkey had opened the tourism office in Riyadh in 2006. "The number of Saudi tourists visiting Turkey has risen since then," he said, noting they saw a 40 percent increase in 2008 over the previous year.
According to Cihan news agency reports, Salih al-Humeyyid, from a tourism agency in Riyadh said "Thanks to the Turkish tourism agency in Riyadh, the number of tourists from Saudi Arabia to Turkey increased remarkably. We expect this trend will continue this year, as well."

Labels: Tourism

Turkey property is set to become even more popular with British buyers, as Moneycorp's prediction for Sterling to strengthen against the Turkish Lira continues to come true.

Turkish property is now 19% cheaper to British buyers than it was in April. This will cause a further increase in the popularity of Turkish property with British buyers, 1 Pound sterling has risen from being worth 2.30 Lira to 2.35, where Moneycorp said it may peak or stretch to 2.40.

"In the long term, we expect the Pound will get stronger, certainly climbing back up to 2.35% and possibly even to 2.40%," the Moneycorp analyst concluded. This growth has far exceeded the predictions of Moneycorp, right now one British Pound will buy 2.50 Turkish Lira (rounded up). Though Sterling has recently been strengthening against the Euro, it has been weakening against the Turkish Lira; this is expected to turn around in the next few months, making Turkey property even less expensive to British buyers. Les Calvert, director of property-abroad said "a rise of even 10 points can have a massive impact on the price of properties to British buyers."

Julian Walker, director of Spot Blue, specialists in Turkey property commented: "Such a rise in Sterling’s value against the Turkish Lira is likely to make Turkey property even more attractive to British property buyers."

According to major UK portal Property Abroad.com, Turkey property has been 4th most popular with the thousands of British property searchers received by the portal. The emerging markets analyst Julie Liddle told that it had gone from being 8th most popular in the first quarter of 2008, to being 5th most popular in Q1 2009 before jumping to 4th most popular in April.

Labels: British, Turkish-property

Antalya in Turkey has been identified as a good destination for investors looking for a stable place to buy property during the global economic downturn.

According to Hurriyet .com reports, Faruk Sayin, a member of the acting board of Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated that thousands of properties are ready to be bought in the region. He noted that the sustained interest in buying Antalya property has been attributed to the low cost of housing in the region as economic downturn resulted in drop in house prices to a 25 to 30 per cent drop in home prices in Anatolia.

Mr Sayin commented: "The decrease in prices and the rising exchange rate make our country attractive for foreigners to buy real estate." The official asserted that with the correct promotion, foreigners are likely to buy large amounts of real estate in Turkey.
Adam Samuel, a director at overseas property portal Nubricks, explained that the country is much cheaper than most countries in the south-east of Europe, something that may entice people to invest in Antalya property.

Another attraction is the future; he suggested that is the potential accession to the EU, so many people are thinking that when that does happen prices will start [rising] and that's where they will see their gains. Turkish property buyers may be keen to take advantage of low prices and the possibility of gains if the country joins the EU in the next few years.

This presents a rare opportunity to buy property in Antalya at the prices found in an immature market, but in a country set to see the levels of foreign direct investment and visitors you generally find in an immature market. Such factors may have helped contribute to the popularity of Turkey with overseas investors.

Labels: Antalya, Market-Trends, Property-buyers

The Turkish property market has regained its confidence, and a swift recovery is imminent.

Mustafa Boydak, head of the Kayseri Chamber of Commerce said that the Turkish economy bounced back relatively quickly to the difficulties posed by the ongoing global financial crisis to a great extent, pointing out that volatility in the market was slowly dissipating. Boydak said entrepreneurs should not hesitate to launch new investment projects, "It is high time that we concentrate on investments all throughout the country. We need to give the economy new impetus," he remarked.

The overseas mortgage specialist Conti revealed that there is a 65 per cent increase in mortgage applications for Turkish properties during the first five months of this year, compared to the same period at the end of 2008.

According to Conti, April and May saw a marked surge, with applications up 143 per cent year-on-year. Conti's operations director, Clare Nessling said that the demand is being fuelled by "great property prices and all the benefits of its Mediterranean location, minus the effects of the strong euro".

The country's tourist industry continues to show strong growth, with just fewer than 30 million visitors expected in 2009. Better-quality rental properties in popular tourist areas are therefore in demand and rental yields will be highly lucrative, with some developers offering guaranteed rentals.

Meanwhile, in a television program hosted by Ankara Representative Mehment Akarca on atv, Prime Minister Erdogan predicted that by the end of the year the effects of the economic crisis will have passed, and stated; "revitalization will begin by the last quarter of the year."

Labels: Market-Trends, Turkish-property

The UK's largest airline, Easy jet is increasing the number of cheap flights it offers from London Gatwick to Turkey's most popular regions.

According to Spot Blue, Easyjet will be running 4 to Bodrum and 7 to Dalaman. This is part of a major expansion of Easyjet's Gatwick flights, which will involve the addition of a new plane at the airport bringing the total to 39. The new flights will be extremely beneficial to the property markets of Bodrum and Dalaman, and are testament to Turkey's massively rising popularity with British holidaymakers.

Julian Walker of spot blue stated that new flights are always advantageous to Turkish property market as Turkey's tourism was raising nearly 20-25% for the last few years, and 25% expected this year, because it is outside the Euro zone and its improving infrastructure. As Turkey's tourism capacity increases more flights will be needed to continue its growth.

According to the airlines Web site booking pages, it has never been cheaper to fly over for a few days and have a look around for the people contemplating buying property in Turkey. The prices become higher month by month and the new one-way fares to Bodrum-Milas airport are ranging from the lowest fare in April of 48.99 pounds for flights from Gatwick to Bodrum, up to 58.99 pounds. For the Bodrum to Gatwick journey the lowest fare for April was quoted at 23.99 pounds to 79 pounds in August.

With British holiday makers having access to short affordable flights, it makes holiday rentals in Bodrum and Dalaman even more appealing. More tourists mean more rental opportunities increasing rental yields and making property in Bodrum and Dalaman an even more attractive proposition to investors.

EasyJet spokesman Andrew McConnell comments: "We have been analyzing these new routes for a while and we see this is as a great opportunity. These new routes fit into our business model by continuing to connect major European cities."

Labels: Holiday-property, Travel