Trade volume reached $8.57 billion during this period, data from the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat have revealed. In the first six months of the year, the İstanbul Leather Free Trade Zone saw the greatest level in trade volume among all the free trade zones in Turkey, with $1.9 billion in trade volume. Last year trade in the zone amounted to $1.8 billion. However, not all of the zones enjoyed a rebound during this period. For instance, the Ege Free Trade Zone suffered a fall of 8.7 percent, from $1.2 billion to $1.1 billion, in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period last year. The free trade zone at İstanbul Atatürk Airport also sustained a drop of 10.5 percent year on year, from $1.4 billion to $1.2 billion. Free trade zones in Kocaeli and Rize also saw drops in trade volume, falling by 30.6 percent and 20.8 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, the Mersin Free Trade Zone enjoyed an increase of 19.8 percent to reach $1.1 billion in the first half of the year over the first half of 2009. Trade volume from commerce in the İstanbul Trakya (Thrace) Free Trade Zone was up by an incredible 31.1 percent to $679.9 million, while Bursa Free Trade Zone also saw an increase of 18.1 percent to $670.2 million. The data showed that trade volume in the Avrupa (European) Free Trade Zone and the Antalya Free Trade Zone also increased by 2.6 percent and 31.7 percent, respectively, during this period.
In the first six months of 2010, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Union were Turkey’s two major partners in free trade zones. Trade done in Turkey’s free trade zones with countries in the OECD and the EU was up by 7.9 percent in this period compared to one year before. Trade with the debt-ridden EU rose by 4.5 percent to reach $2.5 billion, while trade with OECD countries surged by 24.6 percent to $609 million. The trade volume between Turkey and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) also soared by 25.7 percent to reach $332.2 million in the same period. Turkey’s trade with countries in the northern Africa and the Middle East, however, suffered a drop of 17.4 percent to $636.2 million.
