Logistics sector attracts $1.9 billion investment in 10 years: Association

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s logistics sector has attracted $1.9 billion in foreign investments as its cargo capacity quadrupled in the last 10 years, the head of a business association said on Jan. 9.

“Logistics, which provides an investment environment to 400,000 people, is a significant employment sector of Turkey,” Emre Eldener, chairman of the Association of International Forwarding and Logistics Service Providers (UTİKAD), told state-run Anadolu Agency.

Eldener stated that the sector’s share in the GDP was 14 percent and the sector’s operation size has reached $150 billion.

The land routes are commonly used for transportation in the country, which has one of the largest vehicle fleet - over 800,000 registered lorries - in the EU, he noted.

He said Turkey also has an air fleet of 540 aircraft which are used for valuable cargo transportation.

“Turkey can become a cargo transfer center after Istanbul’s new [third] airport is launched,” he said.

The first part of the airport is expected to open in 2018.

Eldener said Turkey’s 8,400-kilometer-long (5,220 miles) coastal areas are situated in very important locations.

He stated that 400 million tons of cargos were handled in Turkey in the first 11 months of 2017.

“Turkey’s logistics sector targets to gain higher share from the global logistics sector, which amounts to $7 trillion,” the head of the association said.

Turkey attracted around $131 billion in foreign direct investment between 2008 and 2017, according to data from the Economy Ministry.