Delivering a speech at a press conference to promote the Developing Cities Summit, which will take place Jan. 7-9 in Bursa in cooperation with GYODER and the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, Tanes noted that the sector enjoyed constant growth for six to seven years, and between 2004 and 2007 the sector expanded at a phenomenal rate, with huge levels of investment. However, he added, the sector started to contract in 2008 with the eruption of the global financial crisis, saying that the adverse impact of the crisis on the sector is still continuing.
“The latest association report on sector forecasts that the first signs of recovery in the sector will start to take place in 2010 and that by 2012 the sector will have returned to its 2008 levels,” Tanes noted. A prior GYODER report expected the sector to return to pre-crisis levels between 2011 and 2014; however, he explained that the report did not take into account a fall in mortgage interest rates due to the date of its preparation. “Even though the sector will not reach its previous sharp growth rate, still, the real estate market will start to be rejuvenated by that time,” Tanes predicted.
Bursa poised to become center of tourism, ‘living history’ city Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Recep Altepe said yesterday that Bursa has completed its industrial development and from now on will focus on projects to turn the city into a center of tourism. Speaking at a press conference organized in İstanbul to promote the Developing Cities Summit, Altepe noted that Bursa, which exports some 10 percent of total Turkish exports and accounts for 20 percent of the country’s total production, has done enough industrial development and from now on will invest in the city’s tourism sector and support urban transformation projects to attract more tourists. Some 100,000 tourists visit the city annually, the mayor said, adding that their aim is to raise this figure to a million. The municipality no longer issues building permits for construction of industrial facilities in the city, but supports any project in the tourism sector, he added. As a result of their initiative, the construction of more than 10 five-star hotels is currently in progress, Altepe noted, adding that they are also working to move the city’s factories to the outskirts of town. |
The previous investments in the real estate sector were mostly in large cities such as İstanbul and Ankara, but investing in Anatolian cities has remained limited so far, he stated, adding that as GYODER their aim is to ensure that Anatolian cities, which possess great potential, will also get a share of investment in the sector in the coming period of rejuvenation. GYODER will provide investors from Turkey and abroad who want to invest in these cities with necessary information and support, Tanes said, adding that the association will also organize summits in several Anatolian cities, during which local administrations and domestic and international investors will have a chance to discuss investment opportunities there.
Bursa, the first location of these city summits, has great potential in that regard, he remarked, explaining that the population of the city is growing at an annual rate of 3.5 percent, with annual revenue of nearly $3,000 per capita. The city also possesses important potential to become a tourism center, along with offering lucrative opportunities in winter sports and as an international transit point. Bursa also has great potential to become a logistics center. Tanes noted that the series of developing cities summits will continue but added that they had not yet determined the next stop.
