The COWI office in Turkey has opened 

Even before the new Turkish subsidiary office opened in Ankara on 1 December, the first project had been completed in the form of an environmental due diligence assignment. In addition to this, three other contracts have been signed, and COWI is to take charge of solid waste management in three EU-funded projects in the towns of Kütahya, Amasya and Bitlis. These projects will be run in collaboration with the offices in Lyngby and Brussels.
 
"There will probably be even more assignments in connection with the EU commitment to negotiations for membership. At the same time several investors from abroad have discovered the country, and the economy is steadier. This may well build up a market for us in areas like transport, environmental due diligence and economics," says COWI's Managing Director Anadolu Merih Kerestecioglu.
 
He expects that the present five employees will have increased to 20 before the end of 2007.

Network already in place

The new office was opened as a natural element in the COWI international business strategy. COWI was involved in a number of major projects in recent years, one of which was the design of the Golden Horn Bridge in Istanbul, and another was to draw up a strategic investment plan for the environmental sector's implementation of the EU heavy-cost environmental directives.
 
For the staff at the new office this provides an excellent platform to continue working from, since there is already an established network of clients and partners with knowledge of the market.

"During the earlier projects we have set up useful partnerships, and we are collaborating closely with highly qualified freelance experts, as well as universities and some carefully chosen, highly expert Turkish companies. In practice we are simply carrying on in the same way as before, even though we were previously lead partners in joint ventures, and now stand alone on the market," concludes Merih Kerestecioglu.

By: Line Steenberg, jaje@cowi.com   
Published: 22.12.2005