Thirty-one Turkish firms were included on international construction sector magazine Engineering News-Record's 2009 list of the Top 225 International Contractors, which was compiled based on contracting revenue from projects undertaken outside a firm's home country. Yesterday an award ceremony took place at Swissotel Ankara, with the attendance of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım, Minister of Public Works and Settlement Mehmet Demir and Çağlayan, in order to present plaques to the firms included on the list. Speaking at the ceremony Çağlayan noted that Turkish construction firms have undertaken important projects and completed them successfully. He said construction, consultancy and building materials producing firms are making investments in priority countries.
Recalling that just seven years ago the total business volume of Turkish construction firms operations abroad was only $1.7 billion, he stated that the sector has managed to increase this figure by some 15-fold by nearly doubling each year. Çağlayan said the Turkish construction and consultancy sector has reached a point where it can raise its overseas business volume to $50 billion within three to five years, adding that in time Turkey will be the global leader in construction.
Çağlayan noted that the world is full of lucrative investment opportunities for construction firms, explaining that a number of countries are planning to launch hundreds of infrastructure and superstructure construction projects worth billions of dollars. Çağlayan said ministers of several countries he had spoken with had revealed their desire to establish cooperation with Turkish construction firms to jointly expand into other countries. A technical crew from Egypt will pay a visit to Turkey to discuss cooperation opportunities in the construction sector on Oct. 27, the minister noted, adding that Egypt wants to make a mutual investment in Iraq with Turkish contractors. Çağlayan said the funding of the project will be provided by the Egyptian side and noted that with a strategic cooperation agreement to be signed between Turkey and Iraq, the sector will gain further opportunities to grow.
Turkish Contractors Association (TMB) President Erdal Eren, also attending the ceremony, stated that with 31 firms included on the list, Turkey is now second only to China in terms of the number of firms it has on the list, adding that last year Turkey ranked third after China and the US. Eren said the main reason behind Turkey's climb on the list is that American firms have started to mainly operate in the domestic market due to the adverse impact of the global financial crisis. He recalled that the total volume of Turkish construction firms' overseas operations climbed from $1.7 billion in 2002 to $23.6 billion in 2008, accounting for a nearly 15-fold increase in six years.
Turkish construction firms do not operate only as contractors in foreign countries, but some make investments and some assume build operate transfer projects, Eren said, adding that Turkish firms have undertaken important real estate projects in Russia, along with construction of big malls and housing estates. The TMB president also stated that raising the business volume of the construction sector's overseas operations to $50 billion would not be difficult despite the financial crisis.
The 31 Turkish firms included on the list were given awards by Erdoğan, Çağlayan and Eren. The firms included on the list are ENKA, GAMA, Ant Yapı, Tekfen, Rönesans, TAV, Nurol, Yüksel, STFA, Baytur, Kayı, Yapı Merkezi, Güriş, Yenigün, Polimeks, Kontek, Onur, GAP, Hazinedaroğlu, Summa, Makyol, Beta Tek, Rasen, Cengiz, Çukurova, Doğuş, Alarko, Eser, Atlas Yapı, Mesa and TML. Some other countries that are home to firms included on the list are China with 50 companies, Italy with 26 and the US with 25.
