The number of Turkish companies on the list increased from 23 in 2008 to 31 this year while China leads the list with some 50 contractor firms. Italy follows Turkey with 26.
Turkish Contractors Association (TMB) Chairman Erdal Eren said on Friday that they were glad to see that Turkish firms have achieved such remarkable success. Noting that many giant contractors have bowed out of markets where Turkish contractor firms operate, he said this was the major factor that has carried so many Turkish firms onto the list. “Due to this fact Turkish firms had the opportunity to branch out into new construction markets,” Eren said, adding that Turkish contractors should take advantage of the current market environment where major firms have left the stage under the strain of heavy losses and focus on increasing their competitive power. Undertaking projects in many different countries, Turkish contractors have provided job opportunities to Turkish citizens in addition to contributing to the country's economy.
Eren said bureaucratic obstacles to companies receiving guarantee letters constituted one of the major problems that Turkish contractors currently face when entering foreign markets. Such problems should be addressed as soon as possible, he said. “The government should make it a priority to ease the burdens on Turkish contractors if they want to address the country's unemployment problem.” Apart from China, Turkey and Italy, the remaining two countries in the top five were the US with 25 firms and Japan with 15.
