Istanbul boosts national exports: Turkish Exporters' Assembly

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Turkey's western province of Istanbul, the largest city in the country, is boosting national exports by providing nearly half of the country's foreign trade, according to the Turkish Exporters' Assembly.
 
Turkey's total exports stood at $80 billion in the first half of the year, with Istanbul - the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart - exporting $33.6 billion worth of goods to the world, the assembly said on July 5.
     
The western port city of İzmir came second in exports with $4.7 billion and exports of the country´s capital city, Ankara, stood at $3.8 billion in the half year.
         
Turkish exports from the east Anatolia region increased by 18 percent in the first six months of 2014 over the same period last year.

Total exports from cities in east Anatolia hit $716.2 million in the January-June period and the south east corner of the country´s province, Hakkari, was the largest contributor to the region exports with $231.4 million.
      
Exports to Iraq hampered

Cities in Turkey's southeast mainly export grains and legumes to Iraq, along with textiles and livestock.

As the economic recovery in Europe continues, in the first half of 2014, the country´s exports increased by 7.3 percent to $80 billion.

Exports to neighboring Iraq fell by 21 percent in June, the exporters' group said, as recent turmoil has hampered exports to Iraq.

Germany was the first destination for Turkish goods, receiving $7.5 billion of products with more than half of them being shipped from Istanbul.

Meanwhile, a total of $177.8 billion was spent from the central administration's budget last year.

Istanbul single-handedly contributed a sweeping 39.05 percent of the entire state budget, valued at $68.2 billion, last year.

Big contribution

In turn, $7.8 billion was spent on Istanbul from the budget.

The figure represents almost eight times more contribution from the city of Istanbul than the allocation from the budget to the city, according to figures from the Finance Ministry.

Turkey's annual exports decreased 0.4 percent to $151.9 billion In 2013, compared to the previous year, while imports rose 6.4 percent, reaching $251.7 billion.

The foreign trade deficit increased 18.7 percent to $99.8 billion last year compared to 2012.

A total of 37,737 companies operate in Turkey with international capital as of February 2014, with 22,370 of them operating in Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, according to the country´s Economy Ministry.