Author: OBG Admin

Pham Hong Hai-CEO-HSBC Vietnam

Turkey makes progress on Trans-Anatolian Pipeline to transport Azeri natural gas to Europe

Posted OBG AdminPosted in Uncategorized

The country’s demand for energy is rising and new supply sources for natural gas are needed to generate electricity, heat homes and cook. Due to scarce domestic supplies and a lack of sufficient liquefied natural gas infrastructure, those supplies will mostly come via pipeline. Turkey has trained its eyes on tapping the planned link from the Shah Deniz II gas development in Azerbaijan to markets in the EU. Over the past decade, several plans for gas pipelines along the “southern corridor” have been mooted. This initiative by the European Commission seeks to procure fuel from the Caspian Sea and Middle East via Turkey to reduce

Nhon Luc Ly-CEO-AIA Myanmar; Son Nguyen-Country President-Chubb Life Insurance Myanmar; Daw Zarchi Tin-CEO

Efficiency upgrade: Demand for insulation surges due to regulations and growing awareness

Posted OBG AdminPosted in Uncategorized

With Turkey undergoing a major construction drive during the last few years, many associated trades have seen solid growth. One segment showing particularly impressive expansion has been insulation, which has averaged higher growth than construction as a whole, on the back of the insulation of both existing buildings and new ones. There is also still much room for further growth, as Turkey aims to achieve similar levels and standards in insulation as its EU neighbours. Growing Awareness According to the Association of Thermal Insulation, Waterproofing, Sound Insulation and Fireproofing Material Producers, Suppliers and Applicators ( İZODER), the sector had an annual average growth rate of

Éric N’guessan-Managing Partner-EY Côte d’Ivoire

Keeping up with demand: The construction and mining machinery and equipment segment benefits from the vast amount of activity taking place

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As Turkey’s economy and population have expanded, growth in its construction sector has benefitted from the existence of a vibrant domestic industry for manufacturing machinery. According to 2013 data from the Turkish Construction Equipment Manufacturers and Distributors Association (IMDER), the construction and mining machinery and equipment (CMME) sub-sector posted the second-fastest growth in the world between 2005 and 2013, after China. Turkey’s CMME industry is the ninth largest in the world. Exports According to a 2014 report on the industry by the Ministry of Economy

Daniel Asare-Kyei-CEO-Esoko; Curtis Vanderpuije-CEO-ExpressPay; and Daniel Marfo-General Manager-Zipline Ghana

Good enough to eat: Turkey has made important strides in food safety to meet EU regulations and expand export markets

Posted OBG AdminPosted in Uncategorized

Few treats are as simple and pleasing to the palette as a fresh tomato from a Turkish summer market. But in 2010, worries about pesticide contamination brought strict curbs on exports to the EU, hitting local tomato farmers, among the world’s top five producers of the Mediterranean staple. However, the EU has now abolished the more stringent inspection requirements on tomatoes, satisfied with Turkish efforts to meet safety standards. That success followed a vote by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation in June 2013 to

Nhon Luc Ly-CEO-AIA Myanmar; Son Nguyen-Country President-Chubb Life Insurance Myanmar; Daw Zarchi Tin-CEO

Turkey developing inter-city and national rail connections to improve transportation network

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Taking the train to Ankara from Istanbul used to be a leisurely affair. After a snack at Gar Lokantası, the blue-tiled restaurant inside Haydarpa şa station that was built by German engineers in 1872 and once served as the terminus for the Baghdad-Istanbul Railway, travellers boarded the train as the sun set. A clattering eight hours later, the train crawled into the capital’s main station. Now a high-speed link changes it all. Turkey has become Europe’s ninth country and the world’s 14th to operate a high-speed train network. The Turkish State Railways’ (TCDD) project slashed the journey time to three hours and 45 minutes as

George Richani-CEO-Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait

Turkey’s tourism sector targets and growing visitor traffic attracting international hotel chains

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New infrastructure and investment will be critical to reaching tourism targets as Turkey barrels towards its Vision 2023 goals, including welcoming 50m visitors and earning $50bn in tourism revenues annually. Hoteliers in Istanbul, the country’s largest city, are investing heavily in new offerings, with thousands of new rooms set to enter the market in 2015. More significantly, the government is moving to increase its transportation capacity through a series of infrastructure upgrades, including construction of the Istanbul New Airport, which will be the world’s largest commercial air transport hub and offer capacity for 150m travellers when all stages of construction are complete. But the largest

President Alassane Dramane Ouattara

Attracting attention: Recommendations for improving the investment climate

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Countries around the world have been making significant attempts to further direct foreign capital investment. In a globalised economy, the degree of foreign investment that a country attracts can have a significant multiplier effect, contributing to technological advances, employment opportunities and the ability to invest more in welfare. Keeping the state’s taxation system up to date as economies become more integrated on the global stage is especially important for emerging markets such as Turkey in their quest to attract direct foreign capital investments into the country. Direct foreign capital investments have grown rapidly in size on the international level since the 1980s. The relatively cautious

Drawing down duties: A look at how tax law deals with corporations

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At present there is no definitive definition for corporations under the law and there are no defined criteria. However, it is possible to draw some conclusions making use of applicable provisions from the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 and various other regulations as outlined below. Commercial Code As stated in Section 40 of the Commercial Code, the location of the company headquarters can determine whether a business is considered to be local or foreign. Under Section 40 of the Commercial Code, “The branch offices of businesses with headquarters in Turkey will also be registered and promulgated in the Trade Registry of the jurisdiction they are

Chaim Zach-Managing Director and CEO-Agric International Technology and Trade; Kabiru Rabiu-Group Executive Director-BUA Group; and Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed-Managing Director

Turkey’s relaunched privatisation programme threatened by currency volatility and political risk

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Following the global financial crisis and the slowdown in international financing, Turkey struggled to garner interest in its privatisation programme and nearly a decade of successful liberalisation slowed dramatically. In 2011 privatisation revenues were $1.4bn, down from a peak of $8.1bn in 2006. However, the programme came roaring back in 2012. While some obstacles had begun to emerge in 2015, several significant sales have taken place in the past two years. The Right Time To Buy? Privatisation proceeds reached a record high in 2013, amounting to $12.4bn, and while figures were unavailable for full-year 2015 at time of print, as of October 2014 the government

Éric N’guessan-Managing Partner-EY Côte d’Ivoire

Turkey plans nationwide 4G mobile network rollout to expand telecoms services

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New spectrum allocations and a fourth mobile licence offering are expected to provide a fillip for Turkey’s telecoms sector, which in recent years has benefitted from rising mobile and internet penetration, driven by its young, tech-savvy population. In March 2015 the transport and communications minister, Lütfi Elvan, announced a tender for 4G mobile data services, which is expected to end in August. Bids were sought in bandwidths of 800, 900, 1800, 2100 and 2600 MHz, with an initial roll-out planned by the end of 2015. The government aims to extend 4G services to at least 90% of the population within six years, Elvan said. Economic