Turkey: Nearly 40,000 new businesses launched in H1

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Nearly 40,000 companies were established in Turkey in the first half of this year, an umbrella association of Turkish business community announced Friday.

Turkey's new business filings were down 13.6% on an annual basis in the January-June period, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) said in a report.

The figures showed that more than 5,500 companies went out of business in the first six months of this year, a rise of 1.8% compared to the same period last year.

The number of foreign-partnered or foreign-funded new companies were up nearly 7%, reaching over 6,000 in the same period.

- Monthly figures

Last month, a total of 4,584 new companies were established, up from 5,514 in June 2018.

The number of company shutdowns in June rose 4.5% year-on-year -- from 686 to 717.

"In June, 696 companies with foreign partners were established," the report said. "Of these companies, 348 had Turkish partners, 85 had Iranian partners and 41 had Syrian partners."