Turkey
Capital:Ankara
Population:71,892,808
GDP:$663.4 billion
GDP Growth Rate:4.5% (2008)
Turkey is located on the crossroads of Europe and Asia and has historically dominated east-west trade. Today this nation continues to be a dominant player exporting textiles, clothing, automotives, and electronics. Thanks to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline completed in 2006, Turkey can now add oil to its list of exports as it ships 1 million barrels per day. Nowhere is trade more apparent than in its largest city Istanbul, which generates 55% of this nation’s trade. In this beautiful city on the Bosphorus Strait, you will see Turkey’s famous Levent and Maslak business districts, where you will learn about the structural reforms Turkey made in anticipation of a closer integration with European markets. Although its push for EU membership appears to be stalled and its external debt is rising, Turkey’s economy is now diversified, investor-friendly, solidly managed, attractive to foreign investors. Explore Turkey’s economy in depth and learn more about its struggle attract foreign investment and remain the world’s 20th largest economy.
