“ Turkey has a strong industrial base , particularly for metalworking and machine tools .”
Turkey occupies a unique geographic position , lying partly in Asia and partly in Europe . It is situated at the crossroads of the Balkans , Caucasus , Middle- East and eastern Mediterranean . The capital is Ankara , and its largest city and seaport is Istanbul . One of Turkey ’ s critical competitive advantages is its proximity to Europe , the Middle East and North Africa , which can all be reached within three hours ’ flight time and together encompass around 1.5 billion customers .
The country has a strong industrial base , particularly for metalworking and machine tools – it was the largest in Central and Eastern Europe with US $ 1.6 billion of production in 2018 ( TIAD / MAKFED analysis ). Particular strengths include laser processing machine tools , forging and punching machine tools ( including presses ) which , in 2018 , accounted for 80 % of its exports in this category . Exports reached US $ 855 million in 2018 ( 30 % growth ) with the industry diversifying its export markets to USA , Canada , Mexico , Brazil and India . The automotive , white goods , aviation and healthcare sectors ( among others ) are well represented in Turkey .
In 2020 , Turkey launched a 21-point stimulus package ( Economic Stability Shield ), worth US $ 15.4 billion , to tackle the coronavirus pandemic .
MADE IN TURKEY
Particular strengths include laser processing machine tools , forging and punching machine tools ( including presses )
MAIN PRODUCT GROUPS IN MACHINERY EXPORT OF TURKEY ( 2019 , MILLION $)
With the roll-out of a COVID-19 vaccine and recovery of trading partner growth , Turkish GDP is expected to expand by about six per cent in 2021 .
Source : TurkStat-Turkish Statistical Institute .
Economic and social development
According to the World Bank , Turkey ’ s economic and social development performance since 2000 has been impressive , leading to increased employment and incomes and making Turkey an uppermiddle-income country . However , in the past few years , growing economic vulnerabilities and a more challenging external environment have threatened to undermine those achievements .
“ For most of the period since 2000 , Turkey maintained a longterm focus on implementing ambitious reforms in many areas , and government programmes have targeted vulnerable groups and