Updated Friday, November 27, 2015
There is a lot of uncertainty regarding travelling to Turkey following the shooting down of a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border earlier this week – here is Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice on travelling to Turkey.
Turkey is a big trading partner with the UK – bilateral trade between the two countries reached £9.1 billion in 2011 when UK goods exports amassed £3.7 billion.
The UK is also Turkey’s fifth largest source of imports from the EU, with a value of over £3 billion and both countries look like reaching their target set in 2010 of doubling bilateral trade by next year.
And the ongoing talk of EU accession are driving the modernisation of Turkey’s economy and business practices, while maintaining a gateway to the markets of Central Asia and the Middle East.
Over 2,500 UK companies currently do business in Turkey, so if you’re one of them, or you want to join them, you’ll need a good conference call provider to help you keep in touch with your international clients and colleagues.
Luckily, you’ve just found the best – so here is how to set up international conference call…
The pros and cons of exporting to Turkey
The Turkish market is large and rapidly developing – it’s becoming the world’s 16th largest economy and Europe’s sixth and is forecast to be in the world’s top 10 economies by 2023.
The strengths of the Turkish market include:
- strong Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth with an average of 5% between 2002 and 2012
- having the youngest and fastest growing population in Europe (700,000 graduates per year)
- Istanbul and Ankara being among the biggest cities in the world in terms of GDP
- a forecast to be the second fastest growing country in the world by 2018 according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
- investments of more than TL 112 billion (USD 60 billion) in the transport, maritime and communications sectors in the last 9 years
- access to markets valued at USD 25 trillion GDP and 1.5 billion customers in Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and North Africa within 4 hours flight
And the benefits for UK businesses exporting to Turkey include:
- gateway to the markets of Central Asia, south Caucasus and the Middle East
- European business ethics and modern management practices
- increasing use of English for business
- a 6 day average to start a business
- low social security contribution rate with an offer of a 5% rebate
- new initiatives to meet EU standards making it a more familiar business environment
The current unrest in the area will obviously be problematic to business, but aside from the tensions, the following challenges are present:
- regulatory issues
- bureaucracy
- sudden changes to legislation and regulations without warning and consultation
- a need to demonstrate a commitment to the market, either by having a visible presence in the country or building and maintaining strong relationships
- necessity of regular market visits to fulfil Turkish requirements
If you’re looking at doing business there, here’s how to set up that conference call…
Setting up the call
Visit ConferenceCall.co.uk to get your free PIN before clicking on ‘Invite Participants’ to generate an email template into which you enter the time, date and subject of the proposed conference call.
Choose UK and Turkey dial-in codes, click ‘Copy this invitation’ and paste it into an email before sending it to up to 100 participants.
Dial-in numbers to call
At the allotted time colleagues should dial the following numbers and enter your PIN:
– UK participants dial 0843 0 250 250
– Turkey participants dial 0212-9881451
Your conference call is ready to begin!
Time to call
Ankara is a over 2,000 miles from London and although there are frequent flights out to Turkey, flight times clock in at about five-and-a-half hours – so not convenient for quick business trips.
However, a time difference that is just two hours ahead of the UK means it’s perfect for doing business via conference call.
