The Turkish government has set itself the goal of advancing from position 34 to position 15 on the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI). The country is using about one quarter of its public investments totalling EUR 19 billion in 2018 to achieve this. This is a clear signal indicating fresh dynamism – to international logistics specialists too. Those attending the 12th logitrans trade fair will once again have the opportunity to network with important players in the logistics sector in the Eurasian region and benefit from the upsurge in the local logistics market on 14 – 16 November 2018.

The Turkish economy has recovered again after the slump in 2016, partly thanks to growth in foreign trade. The Turkish logistics sector is feeling the effects of this too with increases in turnover of 15 – 20 percent and many investments designed to upgrade warehousing and transport capacity. “About 650,000 square metres of new warehouse space are due to be created this year, particularly in the trade centres of Istanbul and Kocaeli, and this figure will increase to approx. 11 million square metres by the end of 2019. As a result, this region will play an important role for logistics projects in future too,” says Necip C. Bagoglu, overseas worker at the Istanbul office of GTAI, Germany Trade and Invest.

Overall, the Turkish logistics sector generated turnover of EUR 65 billion in 2017. According to details provided by the UTIKAD Logistics Association, sea freight accounted for the lion’s share of this. “The number of containers handled in Turkish seaportsrecentlyroseto10millionTEUsandisthereforeatanall-timehigh,”says Bagoglu.“Theshareofgoodstraffichandledbyrail,ontheotherhand,isonlyone percent.Thelargestproportionofstateinvestmentsisthereforegearedtoupgrading the rail network – accounting for the equivalent of EUR 2.3 billion.”

“By announcing that it wishes to move even further in the direction of being one of the world’s leaders on the Logistics Performance Index, Turkey has sent a clear signal, which it now plans to implement. Being present locally is more important than ever. The logitrans trade fair has developed over the years to become an important institution for establishing business relations between companies based in Turkey, Europe and the Middle East. This is also evident from the increasing numbers of visitors,” says Gerhard Gerritzen, a member of the management team at Messe München GmbH. More than 150 exhibitors from 24 different countries and approx. 13,700 participants from more than 50 nations attended the logitrans trade fair last year.

Sharing knowledge will once again play an important role at this year’s logitrans event. The conference programme, for example, provides visitors with information on the most important trends in the sector like the “One Belt One Road” initiative or Industry 4.0 on all three days of the trade fair. The “truck and trailer Turkey” specialist fair will also be held as part of the logitrans in 2018. There will also be a particular area specifically dedicated to railway goods traffic with reference to the New Silk Road under the heading “railcargo Turkey”.