New Portal Project from BCCT to Increase Companies in Trade with Turkey

A new portal project allowing for virtual membership in the British Chamber of Commerce of Turkey, or BCCT, is expected to greatly increase the numbers of companies doing business in Turkey, according to the body’s chairman.

“The number of BCCT members has risen from 300 to 360 in the last eight months and we expect this figure will [soon] become 600,” Jonathan Beard told the Hürriyet Daily News on Wednesday in Istanbul.

He also said he expected 2,000 British companies to become virtual members of the chamber by 2014 through the British Partnership Portal.

“We expect a potential of 7,000 companies to become virtual members in the future,” Beard said.

The portal will be launched by the last quarter of 2011, and will allow companies to become virtual members in the chamber. The project will be financed by HSBC, according to Beard, who did not elaborate on the total cost of the project.

The portal will be open to all segments of industry, Beard said, adding that it would primarily serve small and medium enterprises that wished to do business with Turkish companies but lacked research and networking capacities.

British or Turkish nationality is not a condition for becoming a BCCT member, either physically or virtually, Beard said, adding that companies or individuals of other nationalities were already members of the chamber, especially Canadian and Irish ones. “Nationality does not matter in such a [global economy] era.”

Turkey’s exports to the United Kingdom were worth 7.238 million dollars and imports from the U.K. totaled 1.845 million dollars in 2010, according to Turkey’s foreign trade undersecretary.

There are about 2,500 British enterprises producing in Turkey, said Beard, who has been living in Turkey for 54 years, running his family business which has been trading and cooperating with Turkey for 124 years.

Beard, who speaks Turkish perfectly, said he believed the figure would increase more in the future.

“What is more important is that we serve as a bridge to link [foreign] companies not only with enterprises in Istanbul, but all over Turkey,” Beard said, adding that British enterprises were surprised by the great interest Turkish companies had in trading and cooperation.

June 3, 2011
SOURCE: Hürriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=british-companies-to-become-top-investor-in-turkey-2011-06-02