New era in construction on the way: Hürriyet chair

ISTANBUL

Hürriyet chairwoman Vuslat Doğan Sabancı.

A new era marked by branding is in the making for the Turkish real estate sector, according to Vuslat Doğan Sabancı, the chairwoman of Hürriyet, while speaking at the Association of Real Estate Investment Companies (GYODER) summit in Istanbul on Dec. 3.

“Housings with brands have begun to gain importance,” Doğan Sabancı said at the event sponsored by the newspaper.

“A new era is beginning in the Turkish real estate sector and branding is leading to excitement,” she said, adding that Hürriyet Dünyası, which refers to all media outlets within the company, is supporting the sector in such a bid.

“Hürriyet is a company that knows how to build brands,” she said.

The construction sector has become the largest ad-giver for the last five years, the chairwoman said.
The event also witnessed a joust between Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and Aziz Torun, the GYODER head who also owns the construction firm that has faced much criticism after 10 workers were killed in an elevator accident on Sept. 6 in one of its Istanbul construction sites.

“Babacan has said that industrial sectors [other than construction] bring in profits in five or six years, but the luxurious housings and shopping malls produced by the real estate sector are sold immediately,” Torun recalled, in reference to sharp remarks by Babacan.

“We have to change a wrong conception here,” he said, adding that profits were not five to one in the business. “Industrialists are welcomed, but they will see the risks."

Ethem Sancak, another media boss, said the real estate sector was “building civilization," adding that it was not right to compare it to other industries.

Turkey needs a change in codes to shift investments from the construction sector to other industries, Babacan said in a televised interview Sept. 3, adding that such a shift would prevent “ugly” cities.

Babacan stressed that earning money in the construction sector is “easy” and pulls down the share of industries in the national income, adding that this is “not a good trend.”