The figures that motivate

The results of the CEO survey we published last month made it clear. 68 percent of the 172 executives who participated in the survey said that they were “optimistic”. What underpin this high motivation and appetite for investment in the Turkish business community are “the figures”. Some are excited by the young population, others by Turkey’s targets for 2023 and yet others are motivated by the number of Facebook users. Here are the figures which motivate the CEOs and whet their appetites for investments... The fact that per capital income is approaching $11,000 is encouraging many businessmen to make new investments, Because an increase in income means an increase in expenditure. While the fact that half of the population is under the age of 30 is a very important indicator which is whetting the appetite of both local and foreign investors. And in every sector. When we look at it on a sectoral basis, it is the number 110 that is critically important for those in automotives. Because 110 is the rate of car ownership in Turkey per 1,000 people, In developed economies this figure is 450, This means that the market for the players in the automotive sector will at least quadruple in size. Private pension companies are encouraged by the fact that, in 2025, 69 percent of the Turkish population are forecast to be between 15 and 64 years old, that is of working age. What excites the players in the technology market are, of course, the penetration rates for PCs and the internet... Of course, there are figures which encourage CEOs as well as businessmen. For TAV CEO Sani Şener, the “exciting figure” is the 1.75 rate of flights, while for Kiğılı CEO Hilal Suerdem it is the TL 70 value of the basket.
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19 MILLION 'BANKLESS"
Akbank General Manager Hakan Binbaşgil explains the figures that will have an impact on both Akbank and the sector as a whole as follows: “There are still around 19 million people in Turkey who do not use banking services. The rate of household debt to national income is still low at approximately 17 percent. The rates of housing credits, investments funds and private pensions to national income are also low at 6 percent, 2.3 percent and 1.1 percent respectively. Despite the recent high growth figures, these relatively low penetration rates show that our sector still has a significant growth potential. To put it plainly, I am extremely optimistic about the short- and long-term future.”
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THE EXCITING YOUNG POPULATION
Zorlu Holding CEO Ömer Yüngül is one of those who looks optimistically towards the future. Yüngül stresses that the numbers that have the greatest impact on him are those related to the population under the age of 20 and explains why he is affected by these figures as follows: “Turkey has a very young and dynamic population, which results in an increase every day in the number of people who join the labor force and establish new households. For example, the under 20s account for 35 percent of the total population. This is an indication that the number of households to be penetrated will grow in the future.”~

1.5 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS WITH FIBER OPTICS
Türk Telekom General Manager Tahsin Yılmaz is affected both by the company’s investments and the young population. But one figure stands out for him. And that is 1.5 million. This has a very important place in Türk Telekom’s digital transformation targets as it indicates the number of households which have so far been linked to the fiber optic network. Yılmaz explains the other figures which have had an impact on him as follows: “The communications and information technologies sector is one of the locomotives of sustainable economic growth in Turkey. It is the same elsewhere in the world. According to reports by Analysys Mason, the sector will reach a volume of $2.1 trillion in the world as a whole in 2016. A large section of the population in Turkey is very quick to adapt to and use new technology. 52 percent of the households in Turkey, that is to say 9.9 million households, have a computer. As the number of households with computers increases, so does utilization of the internet. I think these are very exciting developments.”

MOBILE MOTIVATION
The striking data for the GSM sector are amongst the indicators which motivate the players in the sector. For Avea CEO Erkan Akdemir, the figures that whet the appetite for investments are headed by the rate of growth and mobile penetration. Akdemir says: “We have increased the number of our subscribersto 13.2 million. In the third quarter of 2012, the average per capital utilization period reached 350 minutes. We are the operator in Turkey which gets people talking the most. At the beginning of the 2000s, the number of mobile phone subscribers in Turkey was 15 million, whereas now it has risen to 67 million and the mobile penetration rate to 90 percent. In the period from 2002 to 2011 the number of internet users has increased from 4 million to 50 million and the number of mobile telephone subscribers from 23 million to 65 million. We rank seventh worldwide in terms of Facebook use. On the other hand, the Turkish economy is growing rapidly. Our target for 2023 is for the economy to grow to $2 trillion. Half of our population is under the age of 30. All of these whet our appetite for investments.”