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Now You're Talking Turkey

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Doing business in Turkey

A Lens of Business Development Experiences in Turkey.

Step 1. Get yourself to Turkey.

Step 2. Get a haircut and a real job.

Step 3. Enjoy!


The Turkish people are generally friendly and helpful and Turks love to shop. Turkey's location - bridging Europe and Asia, with a rich history and beautiful environment is great for tourism. Turkey's Black Sea, Aegean and Mediterranean beaches are ideal locations for retirement or summer home investors. Turkey is rapidly growing and changing and so there are many opportunities for investment in infrastructure or helping to increase productivity in agriculture and horticulture, energy and manufacturing industries. Turks are getting into sport and recreation. They highly value education. With the move to join Europe, Turkey needs business reforms and marketing. Lots and lots of opportunities for doing business in Turkey.

Important!

Vote on the Turkish business opportunities/sectors most likely to succeed!

Top 10 Business in Turkey Opportunities

What do you think will be the most successful opportunity?

Turkey is in the process of joining the European Union and there are many opportunities for business in or with Turkey as the country goes through necessary changes. Even if Turkey does not obtain full EU membership, there are still many opportunities to do business with Turkey. Turkey's resources include a large young population, fertile land, industrial cities, modern infrastructure as well as being in a prime geo-strategic location, bridging Asia and Europe.

Please vote and add to this list of business opportunities/sectors (originally in alphabetical order) that are most likely to succeed:

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Agriculture

Turkey produces a lot of unique varieties of food, such as pomegranate. Opportunities exist for biofuel and organic crops. The dairy industry in Turkey is underdeveloped.0 points

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Construction

New buildings are appearing everywhere and so construction materials are in big demand. Turkey often experiences earthquakes so earthquake resistant technology is needed. There are many property development and investment opportunities.0 points

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Energy

Gas and oil production and distribution. Wind, hydro and solar electric production. "Greening" of existing thermal electrical production.0 points

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Healthcare

Turkey has started to attract health tourists looking for affordable dental care, operations and other medical treatments. Turkey has recently made it easier for foreigners to practice medicine.0 points

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Manufacturing

Turkey has many industrial zones, producing foods, textiles, pharmaceuticals and automobile products.0 points

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Minerals

Turkey has the largest boron reserves in the world. Gold, thorium and other exploration and production opportunities could be worthwhile.0 points

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Sport and Leisure

Football (soccer) is the biggest sport. Turks enjoy the outdoors and love to picnic, but park and recreation spaces are often underdeveloped.0 points

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Telecommunications

The industry has recently opened up for more competition. Millions of Turks have mobile phones.0 points

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Tourism

Turkey has a rich culture and history with many Biblical sites and places of interest. The climate and geography offers many opportunities for resort and hotel development.0 points

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Training

Turks value training and education. There are many dershane (learning houses) that are training students (in addition to their school lessons) to pass the national exams and learn skills such as computing and English language.0 points

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baby games

freeBaby Games0 points

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My business experiences in Turkey

I own shares in Vista Interactive, a media production & IT company specializing in producing highly effective websites. Vista Interactive is the leading TYPO3 agency in Turkey and the websites they build for our Turkish and International clients often feature localization or multiple languages.

When I joined the company, my partners were in the process of establishing a sister company in the training and consulting industry and I learned a lot about starting business in Turkey through their experiences.

Are you Talking Turkey?

What's your experience of Turkey?

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Welcome Home to Turkey

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Fly to Turkey

For business or pleasure

Turkey has a great resorts, rich history, amazing sites and awesome shopping.

Turkish cuisine has got to be the best in the world. Come and experience a huge variety of healthy fresh food.

Cheapest flights are probably on Wednesday.

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Getting to Turkey

From New Zealand (the ends of the earth)

In September 2003 we packed all of our belongings into suitcases and flew from Auckland, New Zealand to Izmir, Turkey. We were traveling with an infant and to release other passengers from that stress we had a couple of whole day stopovers in USA and Germany. The trip took us about four days - about 24 hours in the air. The alternative route through Asia is not much different - 22 hours in the air. Jet lag lasted about three or four days.

A potential/future business partner met us at the airport. We stayed in a friend's apartment and had one week while they were away to find an apartment, furniture and survival Turkish.

Our apartment was in an area where the locals were used to foreigners. It was cheap (about 1/4 the price we were paying in NZ) and close to public transport and a language school.

Residence permits are required for car ownership and connecting services (electricity, water, telephone, internet) in your own name. Often Turkish friends or foreigners who have permits will sign up for you.

Obtaining a residence permit requires forms, passports with photocopies of your last entry to Turkey, photographs, marriage certificates translated into Turkish and proof of financial support (money in a Turkish account). So applying for a long term residence permit before you spend your start up cash is a good idea.

You can apply for a work visa from your home country, but if you are exploring business opportunities it is advisable to spend some time in language and culture learning on a tourist or student visa first. Visa fees and terms vary from country to country - New Zealanders can get a three month tourist visa for free. Applications for work permits from withing Turkey require a current residence permit.

Once you've got somewhere to live and some of the initial paperwork sorted, it is time to get a haircut and a real job.

Adjusting to the culture

Turks are very hospitable and friendly people. As a business person, you will want to make friends and connections with people.

Many Turks learn English and especially in the major cities you will find Turks who are willing to practice their English with you and help with all sorts of things as you adjust to Turkey. You will find that Turkish culture may be quite different to your own.

A good way to start to fitting into the culture is to get a Turkish haircut.

Getting a haircut

A great way to experience the culture

Turks take hair very seriously. So seriously that it is considered a national art form and foreigners are not allowed to be employed as barbers in Turkey.

Learn all about the "getting a men's haircut in Turkey" experience in this featured lens:
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Living in Turkey

A guide to housing in Turkey

If you are going to do business in Turkey, it is helpful to live here. I have written these lenses as a guide to housing in Turkey, with a special focus on our experiences of living in inner city and suburban apartments in the beautiful city of Izmir; and the process involved in getting a residence permit.
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Books for Surviving your first week in Turkey

The start of your Turkey Reference Library

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Turkish Phrasebook by Arzu Kurklu, Lonely Planet Phrasebooks

Turkish Phrasebook by Arzu Kurklu, Lonely Planet Phrasebooks

You wipe the dust from a bejewelled bottle and a djinn more...1 point

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Teach Yourself Turkish Complete Course Audiopackage by Asuman Celen-Pollard, David W. Pollard, David Pollard

Teach Yourself Turkish Complete Course Audiopackage by Asuman Celen-Pollard, David W. Pollard, David Pollard

You can use Teach Yourself Turkish Complete Course more...1 point

view all 9 items

Translation tools from eBay

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Business in Turkey Links

Business in Turkey
Business in Turkey - Your Guide to Doing Business in Turkey
Invest In Turkey
The investinturkey.gov.tr website, is an easy-to-navigate information platform for international entrepreneurs considering why and how to invest in Turkey. You will find here the facts and figures to make your mind how best Turkey fits in your international business strategy.
Demographics of Turkey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An overview of the different types of people in Turkey. Your potential customer base, suppliers or workforce.
Investment & business opportunities in Turkey
An Insight: Business Opportunities in Turkey.
Turkish organizations that can help and a list of sector-specific opportunities.
Vista Interactive - a company owned by the author of this lens


You will need a website, marketing material and other media produced when you start your business in Turkey.

Vista Interactive excels in creating content managed multilingual websites and business solutions for clients around the world. We have significant experience with helping companies get established in the Turkish market or export their Turkish made products to the world.

Contact Vista Interactive to discuss your project.

Aslan International
Aslan offers a variety of consulting services to foreign and domestic firms and individuals in either English or Turkish. They have significant experience in doing business in Turkey. Foreign investors are encouraged to purchase a subscription to their monthly Foreign Investor in Turkey newsletter.
EXPATIA
Based in Istanbul Turkey, Expatia is a dynamic management consultancy designed to provide diverse consultancy and expatriate employment services.
World Bank report on Doing Business in Turkey
A snapshot of Turkey's aggregate ranking on the ease of doing business and on each of the ten topics that comprise the overall ranking
Doing Business in Turkey -- U.S. Commercial Service Turkey
The U.S. Commercial Service offers valuable assistance to help U.S. business export goods and services to markets worldwide. This part of their website focuses on the Turkish market.
World Bank: Turkey - Data & Statistics
World Bank Data and Statistics on Turkey.
Turkish Business Culture training courses
Turkish Business Culture training course and Turkey Social Culture courses
Doing e-business in Turkey
Latest analysis and country profile of Turkey's information and communications technology industry.
Turkey on NationMaster
Statistics on Turkey. Facts and figures, stats and information on Turkish economy, crime, people, government, health and education. More than 30 maps.
How Do You Do Business In Turkey? - Turkey Forum
Discussion about how expat people are doing business in Turkey.
Invest in Izmir
Invest In Izmir, third largest city in Turkey.
Starting up in Turkey : Exploring career opportunities
Are you searching for a job in Turkey? You feel qualified, you are motivated but you can't find anything suited to both your skills and interests?
Turkey's profile on FocusEconomics
Economic Forecasts from the World's Leading Economists for Eastern Europe
Starting a Business in Turkey
How to start your own business in Turkey: from initial paperwork to tax returns, what are the realities for expats
UK Trade & Investment : Turkey
Information about business in Turkey from the UK Government for companies in the UK doing business internationally.
Turkish work ethic second to none, says British expat and business owner - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review
A successful pioneer in business, John Melvin Cottrell proved to be a pioneer in the wave of expats that have chosen Turkey as home in the last number of years.
Metin Keser - Turkish Accountant, Business and Tax Consultancy
MK Consulting based in Istanbul, is an independent consultancy firm specializing in the development of business in Turkey. MK Consulting has built up an extensive, nationwide network with contacts in diverse sectors of business and within many government departments.
Republic of Turkey Ministry of Economy
Website of the Turkish Ministry of Economy.

TODAY'S ZAMAN :: Expat Zone

Recent Expat articles from one of Turkey's daily English newspapers

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Living Overseas

Living in Turkey, moving to Turkey, expatriate Turkey
Would you like to live in Turkey? The participative living in Turkey guide will help you!
Transitions Abroad
A portal for Work Abroad, Study Abroad, Cultural Travel and Living Overseas.
The Turkish Life
San Francisco girl living in Istanbul.

Istanbul'da oturan San Francisco'lu bir k%u0131z.
Carpetblogger
Caustic Commentary from Constantinople: News and Views from the declining and emerging empires.
Escape Artist - Resources for living overseas
Restart Your Life Overseas
Live Where You Want To Live - Live How You Want To Live . . . And Make Money Doing It!

Info about Living Overseas - International Real Estate, Overseas Jobs - Asset Protection - Expatriate Resources - Overseas Retirement.

Work Permits

Permit problem plagues foreigners
The perennial problem of work permit issuance -- or lack thereof -- continues to plague skilled foreign workers in Turkey, as work permit applications with everything in order can take months, or even years, to process.
Streamlined work permit process in 2010
The Ministry of Labor and Social Security says that the processing time for work permits for foreigners -- currently at least seven to eight months -- will be reduced to only one month.
Work Permit Criteria for Foreigners in Turkey
Procedures, required documents and guidelines for foreign nationals in obtaining a work permit to live and work in Turkey.

Living and travelling in Istanbul

Turkey's largest city

Istanbul Trails ~ Your Istanbul Tourist & Expat Travel Guide
Istanbul tips and reviews to help tourists and expats make the most out of their trip/stay.

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by

Peter.Murray

I'm an entrepreneur from New Zealand who has chosen to live in Turkey because of the huge potential here.
My strengths are in the Information Technology... more »

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