Further relaxation of coronavirus lockdown measures in Turkey at the beginning of June has brought along a notable recovery in economic activity, seen in the rapid launch of new companies, particularly in the country’s metropolis, Istanbul.
Dubbed the country’s financial capital, Istanbul has seen 6,613 new companies launched in the five weeks of “new normal” between June 1 and July 3, a 78% increase compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the latest data by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO).
Separately, the country’s central bank Thursday said the recovery in the economic activity had started in May with the gradual steps to open up the economy.
The ITO data showed demand by the companies in Istanbul for foreign trade documents, manufacturing capacity reports and online activity certificate all increased in the said five weeks. They were up by 15%, 46% and 141% year-on-year to 228,000, 680 and 40,000, respectively, according to the data.
“We are in the sixth week of the normalization process, which began on June 1. The figures for the first five weeks are very promising. The number of foreign trade certificates, capacity reports and online activity certificates requested by the companies from ITO for their commercial businesses have well passed last year,” ITO Chairman Şekib Avdagiç said.
Avdağiç stressed the pandemic did not prevent the number of newly launched companies to well exceed the same period of 2019.
“Another interesting point is the registration figures. In the first five weeks, the number of companies’ registration transactions has increased by 5% and passed 15,000,” he noted.
“This data confirms what I said when the COVID-19 first appeared. I said, ‘We are going to learn to live with the pandemic, we are not going to be its prisoners. We will fight and continue to produce.’
“The data does not just show us that we are successful in fighting the coronavirus. It also proves that we have managed to deal with this virus and also achieve a remarkable breakout on the production front,” Avdagiç added.
