L’Institut du Bosphore, a key player in bolstering links between France and Turkey

At over €11bn in 2008, bilateral trade between France and Turkey has reached a level never seen before, surging by nearly 10% over 2007.
Exports to Turkey amounted to €5.7bn in 2008, up 9%, i.e. far more than France's total growth in exports of 2.1%. Over the same period, French imports of Turkish products have climbed to over €5.3bn, up 10% over 2007, or practically double the 5.3% increase in France's total imports including energy. Although down compared to 2007, the trade balance remains positive (€383m), but the trend since 2005 is moving towards an equal balance. (Source: Trade and economic missions in Turkey)

France is Turkey's 5th biggest trading partner:
Bilateral trade has soared by a factor of 4 since the customs union now exceeding €10bn and is now almost in balance.

France is Turkey's 3rd biggest foreign investor:
There were only 15 French companies in Turkey in 1985, today there are nearly 300, employing more than 65,000 Turkish workers.
France is one of the principal countries receiving Turkish students.

In this context, and building on the Turkish Season in France, TUSIAD, the association of Turkish industries and companies, took the initiative in early 2009 of setting up a think tank designed to bolster Turkey-France relations and bring them to the attention of the general public.

The first think-tank entirely dedicated to relations between France and Turkey, the aim of Institut du Bosphore is to open a new chapter in dialogue between Turkey and its partners. Creating a platform for dialogue between people involved in our shared economic, social and intellectual life has turned out to be both a unique yet natural initiative.

This desire to create a platform for dialogue gave rise in September 2009 to the birth of Institut du Bosphore

TUSIAD in brief

TUSIAD is a non-governmental organisation representing the Turkish private sector at national and international levels.

TUSIAD comprises companies from the industrial and service sectors employing 450,000 people and producing 44% of the added value created in Turkey and 39 % of the country's exports.

TUSIAD is a member of BusinessEurope, the BIAC (Economic and Industrial Consultative Committee at the OECD), the UBCCE (Union of Black Sea and Caspian Companies) and the EUCCC (European Union Chamber of Commerce in China).

TUSIAD provides a view on business affairs through its offices in Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Washington DC and Beijing.

TUSIAD undertakes to defend the universal principles of democracy and Human Rights and supports freedom of enterprise, belief and opinion.

TUSIAD aims to establish the legal and institutional framework of a market economy and to ensure application of internationally accepted ethics in the world of business.

TUSIAD engages in public debates as part of its activities and in compliance with its mission, by communicating its positions on current affairs

See the sponsors of TUSIAD Country Communication Fund 

What is the Institut du Bosphore?

Conceived as a platform for permanent, free and objective dialogue and debate, Institut du Bosphore reviews geopolitical, economic, general society and cultural issues in order to emphasise Turkey's involvement in the social fabric of the world, and in particular with regard to its proximity with the European Union and France.

Acting as a real bridge between French and Turkish public opinion, Institut du Bosphore aims to foster shared dialogue between the people of France and Turkey concerning Europe and the world that faces us.

Under the direction of an Executive Committee, Institut du Bosphore is an independent organisation run by a Franco-Turkish scientific committee that includes high profile French and Turkish personalities from a wide variety of sectors - politicians, businessmen, economists, technical experts and intellectuals.