Page 52 - TURKRptSep20

Home sales in Turkey started their big recovery in June thanks to cheap loans from state-owned banks encouraged by the government to pump more credit into Turkey’s struggling economy. In April and May, they plunged due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In the first seven months of 2020, a total of 854,000 homes were sold in Turkey, marking a 41% rise from a year ago.
Mortgage-financed sales soared 314% y/y to 397,000 units.
Turkish companies make up almost one-fifth of the top 250 contracting firms globally​ according to the US’ Engineering News Record (ENR), Turkey’s state-run news service Anadolu Agency ​quoted​ the Turkish trade minister as saying on August 26.
With 44 firms on the list, Turkey ranked second by the number of contractors on ENR’s 2020 Top 250 International Contractors list. It ranked seventh by total revenues, the minister, Ruhsar Pekcan, told a meeting organised by the Turkish Contractors Association.
Spanish firm ACS was ranked as the top firm, followed by Hochtief Aktiengesellschaft (Germany) and Vinci (France), according to ENR.
Pekcan noted that while the top 250 firms' revenues have fallen 3% in 2020 to date due to global uncertainties and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Turkish contractors' revenues were not retreating.
The Turkish contracting sector has tackled projects worth $407bn in 127 countries since 1972, including $50bn in 1972-2002 and $357bn since 2002, Pekcan said.
Last year the sector took on projects worth $19bn despite trade wars and political uncertainties, she said, and added: "We targeted over $20bn for 2020 but the pandemic negatively affected international projects."
9.1.4​ TMT sector news
Some 90.7% of households in Turkey have access to the internet, up from 88.3% in 2019, according to a ​survey​ by national statistics office TUIK on information and communication technology usage.
Back in 2009, only 30% of Turkish household had access to the internet.
The survey also revealed that 89.9% of households have broadband access to the internet in 2020, up from 87.9% in 2019.
According to the research, 50.8% of internet users can connect to the internet via a fixed broadband connection, such as ADSL, cable or optic fibre, while 86.9% can connect with a mobile broadband connection.
Internet usage among Turks aged between 16 and 74 years of age rose to 79% in 2020 from 75.3% in 2019, TUIK also said.
The survey also found that during April 2019 and March 2020, 36.5% of internet users went online to buy goods or services versus 34.1% a year earlier.
Clothes topped the shopping list at 60.9%, followed by books, magazines and newspapers at 26%. Some 22.5% of internet users went online for food orders and catering services.
52​ TURKEY Country Report​ September 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com