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trailer world Issue One 2014

From the "extendend workbench" of Europe to a dynamic power

Bulgaria Georgia Iran Armenia Syria Iraq Cyprus Black Sea Mediterranean Sea From the »extended workbench« of Europe to a dynamic economic power TURKEY     Issue One 2014  37 Companies such as the semitrailer man- ufacturer, Tirsan, are indicative of the country’s success which extends well be- yond its borders. Tirsan is not just the most important producer of semitrailers, chassis and low-loaders in the domestic market, since 2002 it has also been the owner of the tank and silo arm of Kässbohrer, the tra- ditional transport manufacturer based in Goch in North Rhine Westphalia, Germa- ny. Tirsan is currently ahead of its compet- itors with a market share of just over 40%. “We offer the widest product range and we are investing in research, development and new sites, such as Russia since 2011,” ex- plains Iffet Türken, a member of the Board of Management at Kässbohrer. The Turkish economy has been flourish- ing for years. At the same time, companies in the logistics sector developed from being straightforward transport companies into professional service providers. “It is esti- mated that they are earning about €40 bil- lion annually,” says Stefan Iskan, Professor of Logistics at the Ludwigshafen am Rhein Academy. Last year, he cooperated with the Turkish Association of International Hauliers to produce a study of the Turkish logistics market. At the BPW “Wiehl Fo- rum” customer event in November 2013, he talked with academic and practical speak- ers about the opportunities and possibil- ities for the German and European trans- port and logistics sector, as well as the role played by Turkey as bridge to the CIS states. Infrastructure projects for developing the economy The transport infrastructure is impor- tant for economic success. As a result, the Turkish Ministry of Transport is pushing ahead with road construction. Between 2003 and 2013, the entire road network al- most quadrupled to 44,792 kilometres. Ma- jor projects such as the third bridge across the Bosporus with a motorway link or in- vestments in the rail network are intended to crank up economic activity. Companies such as Borusan Logistics or Ekol Logistics are starting to rethink their approach. In their search for ever improving and ever faster logistics services, they are concen- trating on transport solutions such as com- bined transport. The planners of goods traf- fic centres that are intended to be built all over the country are also taking account of the modal split, and are developing solu- tions for putting as much cargo as possible onto the rails. At present, rail cargo traffic accounts for just one percent. In May 2013, the Turkish President Abdullah Gül signed the “Law on Liberalisation of Turkish Rail Transport”. As a result, private providers will be able to operate their own trains in future and build railway links from their production facilities to the national rail net- work. This is what the instigators of the “Great Anatolian Logistics Organisations” project (BALO) intend to use. Regional chambers of commerce and haulage com- panies have got together and intend to transport goods within Turkey and into Eu- rope by rail. As far as Iffet Türken of Käss- bohrer is concerned, the investments in road and rail infrastructure represent a sig- nificant step in the ongoing economic de- velopment of Turkey. (sl) The Turkish government is pursuing a clear objective: by 2023, on the 100th anniversary of the Republic, exports should account for a volume of $500 billion. Turkey intends to advance from 16th to 10th place amongst the economic powers. Photos:TarasLivyy–Fotolia.com,BPW Prof. Dr. Stefan Iskan presented a paper at the Wiehl Forum customer event organised by BPW.

Overview