Many people abroad still regard Turkey as an agricultural and tourism country, but there is more then just welcoming the tourists and selling vegetables in Turkey. It is easy to be under a delusion about Turkey. Nobody expected Islamic country to be called “Europe’s second-largest economy by 2050” by British Prime Minister. But nevertheless, there are facts which indicate Turkey’s future success.
Surviving in various crisises in last years and being experienced in this subject, Turkey managed do very well out of the recent global crisis and it didn’t suffer as much as so many other countries.
It even showed economical growth by 11% since the beginning of this year. That makes experts, analyzing economical situation of last years in Europe, call Turkish economy “The fastest growing economy in Europe”. Istanbul’s economy alone is stated to be larger than that of 12 UE countries.
Though agriculture, tourism and construction can be regarded as the biggest sectors of Turkish economy, there are more industry sectors, which Turkey is successful in, and rightfully can be considered as a leader in them.
Turkey is one of the world’s largest textile exporters, as well as a producer of the best quality textile in the world. Many of the world-known brands’ clothes are “Made in Turkey”.
Turkey is the largest TV and DVD producer in Europe, and also a producer of world-known Beko trademark’s white goods, which quality is as good as many other famous brands.
Turkey has a thriving automotive sector, demonstrating tremendous growth in the past and setting goals to increase output in the future. As of 2007, production capacity of Turkish automotive industry exceeds 1.3 million vehicles, making it the world’s 16th largest automotive manufacturer and one of the leaders in Europe. Turkey is currently aiming to increase production to reach 2 million units by 2015.
Growing rapidly in the airline sector, Turkey is also became a significant pilot training center. Pilots from many countries come to Turkey for trainings on the last technology simulators.
Being surrounded by seas almost all around, Turkey just couldn’t miss the shipbuilding sector. With years Turkey became one of the top three producers of luxury yachts in the world. Although this sector came to a near standstill during the global financial crisis, it appears to be recovering healthily on the basis of increased orders for premium yachts in 2010 and 2011. According to data obtained from the Antalya Free Trade Zone Directorate, 178 yachts, varying in length from 6 to 41 meters, were sold for $269 million between 2000 and 2010. Thirteen of these yachts were sold in Turkey while the remaining 165 found buyers abroad.
Laying high taxes on imported products, Turkey encourages and supports domestic manufacturer to produce competitive products, which makes Turkey self-sufficient in many industry sectors.
Turkey sells drinking water and provides electricity to several neighbor countries. Being situated between main global energy suppliers and consumers, as well as being a significant stable power, which bridges Europe and Asia, Turkey’s place in the global energy system is very important. Over 8% of all the internationally trade crude passes through Turkey every day.
These are just the most important segments of Turkey’s industry and economy. There are many other industry areas to be mentioned, such as yarn industry, chemicals industry, consumers industry. Also, according to Turkey’s Secretariat General for EU Affairs (ABGS) data, the number of scientists in Turkey is increasing faster than in any other country in Europe. ABGS noted that Turkey has begun to get results from the investments it has made in the science and technology field, rising to fifth among 23 EU countries in the rate of speed of allocating resources to research and development. Over 400 thousand people graduate every year from the universities, and together with the fact that Turkey has the youngest population in Europe – 46 million people under the age of 35 – makes me believe that Turkey has a great potential which will make it even stronger in nearest future, and will make the prognosis about Turkey’s economy outstripping those of Korea, Spain and Australia by 2050, come true much earlier.
