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A group of businesses from the city have recently returned from a successful visit to Turkey, which was organised by local firm Good Travel Management and the Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce to explore potential trade opportunities.
The visit, which took in the cities of Izmir and Istanbul, took place between the 14th & 18th May and included a programme of official networking events and business meetings with members of the Turkish British Chamber of Commerce.
Director of International Trade at the Chamber Pauline Wade organised the visit and felt it was a useful way of developing links between UK and Turkish business.
“Different businesses had different objectives for the visit,” said Pauline. “Some were looking for partners in Turkey, others were introducing new products into the market or visiting established customers.
“All indications are that partnerships will be formed between a number of the participants and Turkish businesses once the formalities have been undertaken. Several of the mission group members plan to return to Turkey in the autumn to develop the opportunities identified on the mission.”
Mission participants attended meetings in Istanbul and Izmir and the group was also welcomed by the Ports of Alsancak and Aliaga. Networking dinners were held in Istanbul and Izmir where the group met up with members of the British Turkish Chamber of Commerce and the Izmir business community.
Managing director of John Good Logistics Alan Platt took part in the mission and also felt it was enormously beneficial both for his company and for the other businesses who took part.
He said: “Visits like this cement the importance of this key trade lane for our business both locally, regionally and also in Turkey.
“John Good Logistics is becoming synonymous with Turkey and our physical presence and involvement in this market, with our own offices in Istanbul and Izmir, ensures we are best placed to provide end-to-end logistics solutions.
“Participation in such trade missions sends out a clear message to other companies that Turkey is a good place to do business and builds confidence for others to develop their business activities there too.”
Turkey is the World’s 15th largest economy and is currently sixth largest in Europe. However experts predict that it will be the world’s third largest economy after China and India by 2018. Due to the country’s strong banking sector and structural reforms it has endured the latest global financial crisis and its economy is booming.
Pauline Wade continued: “Turkey is a large rapidly developing country with a large domestic market of 73 million people. It’s also a useful springboard to the markets of Central Asia and the Middle East.
“There are opportunities for UK companies in a variety of sectors and businesses from Yorkshire & the Humber were in Turkey looking for a share of the action. To this end it is anticipated that an inward trade mission from Izmir to The Humber will take place before the end of 2012.”