A strong Chinese step in Turkey

Even though relations between China and Turkey have not been proceeding very warmly at a deeper level, they have been developing at a fast pace commercially speaking.

The interest Chinese companies have in Turkey and their investments are speeding up.

I had written previously that one of the wealthiest businesswomen of China, Yang Huiyan, wants to build a Chinese neighborhood in Istanbul’s Tarlabaşı neighborhood.

There are other Chinese investments, namely a pipeline project.

Powerchina is a multinational investment and construction corporation and it is one of the biggest public corporations in China. It is among Fortune Magazine 2016’s biggest 500 companies, with a total asset of $92.8 billion.

They have recently opened their Eurasia Central Office in Istanbul, meaning, they took action in defining their international expansion strategy from Istanbul.

Some time ago, they separated the global market into six regions and set up an agency in each of them. Eurasia is one of them.
The 259 international branches of the company provide services affiliated with the central office of the region.

The Eurasia Central Office is in charge of the markets of 63 countries in south and central Asia, outer Caucasus and Europe.

According to an information I received, there are 157 investments still ongoing. Among these projects are also many power plant investments in Turkey.

The information given to me regarding the reason to why they chose Turkey as their central office includes the production capacity Turkey holds and its human resources; the strategic cooperation especially between China and Turkey and its economic growth potential in the future; and the one to one matching up of the “Belt and Road Initiative” of China with the “middle corridor” plan for Turkey.

The company sees Turkey as a country whose economy is at rapid growth and its investment atmosphere is getting better. They believe it has a relatively suitable atmosphere for foreign investments.

‘Kalecik Karası’ grape to be branded

The Kalecik district of the capital Ankara, famous for its grape variety named “Kalecik Karası,” went on a patent initiative.

Kalecik Karası is one of Turkey’s most well-known local grapes in the world. It is grown on the vineyards of Kalecik, 80 kilometers outside central Ankara.

The wines made from these grapes make their way to world rankings every year and receive awards.

According to Kalecik Mayor Filiz Ulusoy, it is not right to associate the grapes in the region only with wine. She said they wanted to brand the grapes with different products such as vinegar, local grape molasses (pekmez) and marmalade. She added that regional producers did not want to give up their grapes for wine production and that they were not pleased with the wine facilities.

“We want to earn money rightfully from the product that belongs to our region,” she said.

But let’s also not forget that it is the hard work of the wine producers, who have faced many difficulties for so many years, that has made the Kalecik Karası grapes a world-renowned brand.

I hope their precious labor will also be protected.