Skip to main content

IRF Regional Conference, Istanbul: Turkish economy surges ahead

IRF Regional Congress to be held against backdrop of ramped up highway investment Turkey has long enjoyed a privileged geographic position at the crossroads of Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. Buoyed by a vibrant economy (4.5% average GDP growth between 2002 and 2012), Turkey has embarked on an unprecedented effort to develop and modernise its transport infrastructure by 2023, marking the centennial of the foundation of the modern Turkish Republic. This plan, which seeks to propel Turkey as
April 13, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
The Gebze-Orhangazi-İzmir highway is one the biggest build operate transfer projects in the world
IRF Regional Congress to be held against backdrop of ramped up highway investment

Turkey has long enjoyed a privileged geographic position at the crossroads of Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. Buoyed by a vibrant economy (4.5% average GDP growth between 2002 and 2012), Turkey has embarked on an unprecedented effort to develop and modernise its transport infrastructure by 2023, marking the centennial of the foundation of the modern Turkish Republic.

This plan, which seeks to propel Turkey as the world’s 10th largest economy, sets an ambitious highway construction agenda with 36,000km of dual carriageway roads and another 7,800km of BOT motorways serving the needs of an estimated 378 billion passenger km. In parallel, a nationwide integrated traffic management & traveller information system relying on 17 regional centres and 7,500km of fibre optic cable is scheduled for completion by 2023.

1st IRF Europe & Central Asia Regional Congress

September 15–18, 2015
Grand Wyndham Hotel, Istanbul


Limited exhibition & sponsorship opportunities:

• Raise your profile and strengthen your brand awareness
• Position your brand as a market leader in a dynamic region
• Differentiate your brand from competitors
• Maximise exposure of your brand to the media and visitors
• Generate leads with exclusive access to a targeted audience
• Present your innovations at Applied Knowledge sessions
• Make your mark at a milestone event
with influential professionals from all road industry disciplines
Early results, as measured by the 3019 World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index, are encouraging. In 2014, the country as a whole ranked 33rd for the quality of its overall infrastructure. Highway infrastructure investments as a percentage of GDP increased from 0.4% to 1.2% in 2012. This in turn has translated into significant new markets for road equipment: Turkey’s current needs are estimated at 2,000 km of safety barrier and 142,000m2 of vertical signing every year for its national highway network alone.

Some of Turkey’s anchor investment projects are also setting new standards such as the Mount Ovit Tunnel (14,700m) set to be the longest in Europe, or the 384km Gebze-Orhangazi-zmir highway, one the biggest build operate pransfer projects in the world (pictured), valued at US$6.3 billion. Once completed, travel time from Istanbul to zmir will be cut by half to just 4 hours.

With a strong economic outlook and a long-term vision for the sector, Turkey has become an extremely promising market for investors and suppliers. Efforts underway to modernise the country’s legislative framework for PPPs will further strengthen the attractiveness of Turkey’s active portfolio of investment operations.


Organised by 3918 IRF Washington.



For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IRF Geneva to support Qatar on its recycling strategy
    June 12, 2018
    IRF Geneva was at the Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit (PPRS) 2018 in Nice The Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit (PPRS) 2018 in Nice (26th – 28th March 2018) set the scene for the signature of an important Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between between Ashghal, the Qatari Public Works Authority and the International Road Federation (Geneva). Ashghal’s participation in the summit was part of its endeavour to open opportunities for cooperation and investment in the road sector and recy
  • A history lesson in private public partnerships
    February 15, 2012
    Michel Démarre gives some historical insights into public-private partnerships conceived to implement urban infrastructure projects, a concept that surprisingly dates back to as early as the 13th century!
  • Ambitious road tunnelling projects around the world
    November 29, 2013
    The construction of the world’s longest subsea road tunnel in Norway and a vital new link under the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey are among a host of exciting, major road tunnel-based projects currently being undertaken across the globe. Guy Woodford reports Sandvik DTi series tunnelling jumbos are being used for the excavation of Solbakktunnel, set to become the world’s longest subsea road tunnel.
  • Initiative to Include Road Safety in Sustainable Development Goals
    September 15, 2015
    Road safety is a key issue for sustainable development targets. During the Rio+20 Conference in 2012, it was agreed by member States to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to build on the Millennium Development Goals and converge with the post-2015 development agenda. Over the past six months, IRF Geneva has undertaken a sustained campaign to ensure that road safety is included in the SDGs. As part of this, Kiran K Kapila, chairman, IRF Geneva, has reached out, amon