Turkey Full Speed Ahead
The 11th Exposhipping Europort Istanbul witnessed a festive opening on Tuesday 23 March with a number of speeches by – amongst others – Mr Serkan Tiglioglu (CEO of NTSR) and Mr Jos van der Vegt (CEO of Ahoy Rotterdam). According to Mr Jos van der Vegt Turkey is moving full speed ahead to establish its position as one of the leading countries in the maritime industry, following on from a difficult economic situation.
The Turkish shipbuilding industry has shown its resilience and has rapidly adapted to take on the construction of complex ships. Since 2002 Turkey has risen from the 23rd to 5th place in the shipbuilding industry worldwide, and to 7th place in superyacht building. The number of shipyards has increased from 40 to 107. It is expected that this number will further grow to 175 with completion of ongoing investments.
According to Dennis Vinkoert, publisher with Yellow & Finch Publishers and one of the participants at the trade fair, the 11th edition of this martitime trade fair creates a positive business environment with over 200 exhibitors representing more than 600 brands from over 35 countries from 50 countries participating. “In the maritime world, Istanbul occupies a central position. It is the centre of the Turkish shipbuilding industry and the link between Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, the Black Sea region and North Africa. So the place to be for our publishing house to effectively promote our portfolio of international maritime business-to-business magazines to the international world.”