13th MUSIAD International Trade Fair represents a great opportunity to meet businessmen in this sector not only from Turkey but also from different countries all over the world.

The fair program includes regular activities such as “sector-based meetings” aiming at gathering businessmen who share common interests under one roof, MUSIAD also arranges visits to some selected factories in this sector.

Taking into consideration that the 14th International Business Forum (IBF) will be held in Istanbul from the 6th to the 9th of October 2010, the potential number of visitors for the Fair is constantly growing.

Construction is one of the key sectors in Turkey, being one of the main drivers of private and public investments in Turkey. Turkish construction services are one of the major sectors which contribute to the exports of the Turkish services sector. Turkish international contracting started its rapid growth with the first contract which was signed in the 1970’s in Libya. North Africa and the Middle East remained major markets for many years. Apart from the Middle East and North African market in which Turkish contractors have enjoyed a great share of civil engineering and electromechanical erection work, the former USSR and some European countries have opened their construction market to Turkish Contractors. Today, they are working in 4 continents and 51 countries, using all the financial, managerial and technological instruments of international contracting standards.

Today Turkish construction and engineering companies are able to design, erect, build and operate almost all kinds of civil and industrial projects such as: Dams, hydroelectric and thermal power plants, industrial plants, airports and seaports, large scale petroleum and natural gas pipelines, fertilizer plants, petrochemical complexes and refineries, motorways, tunnels, bridges, large housing projects, hotels and all kinds of sophisticated buildings. Turkish contractors have achieved a volume of work exceeding US $45 billion within the last 30 years in 51 foreign countries spread over four continents, earning Turkey a share of over 2% in the global construction market.

The glass industry is one of the most important and highly developed industries in Turkey. Today, a group of companies, namely, Türkiye Şişe ve Cam Fabrikası A.Ş., accounts for approximately 90% of annual production with its 26 manufacturing and 10 marketing and financial companies. There are about 20 large and medium-scale firms dealing with production in the sector. And a certain number of small ones also.

The domestic production of basic plastic raw materials has naturally resulted in a strong plastic processing industry in Turkey. At present, there are about 6,000 plastics processing companies, which are mainly small and medium-scale.

The Turkish plastic sector today has attained world standards as far as raw materials, semi-finished and finished products are concerned. Finished plastic products are expected to comply with the related Turkish standards (TSE), International standards (ISO) and recently with the standards set by the EU.

Furniture production in Turkey dates back to the 19th century and was done in small workshops as artisan production. Today, furniture is produced both in workshops and industrial-scale manufacturing units. Furniture production is highly fragmented among a large number of small workshops. These small workshops play an important role in producing hand carved and handmade furniture. Workshops are flexible establishments in nature and have enough capacity and labor force to expand their production line in order to supply large orders. Most existing furniture factories and large workshops have been in business since 1975.

Large-scale furniture firms produce standard models by using automated mass-production techniques and most of their production is oriented towards export. According to capacity reports of The Union of Chambers of Commerce Industry, Maritime Trade and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) there are about 20 companies which have over 200 employees and 118 companies which have over 50.

In Turkey furniture production can be classified as massive furniture and veneered furniture. As it is known for good quality furniture, the types of wood used and plywood inputs have to be taken into consideration. The main types of wood used in the manufacture of massive furniture in Turkey are ash, beech, oak, pine, linden and mahogany. In veneered furniture oak, beech, walnut and mahogany are used.