Exports by smaller firms still strong

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have not slowed down their third quarter exports despite the turbulent economic environment.

According to a report issued by the online shopping portal Alibaba.com, the primary export location for Turkey’s SMEs is the U.S. followed by Egypt, China and England. This was the first time England appeared in the list of top 10 importers of Turkish SME products, according to the report.

Alibaba.com’s Sales Director Timothy Leung said the third quarter earnings highlight the importance of Turkish SMEs in Alibaba.com. There has been a 34 percent increase in Turkish members to the web portal from Sept. 30, 2010 to Sept. 30, 2011.

In terms of most desired Turkish export products, food and beverage topped the list followed by agricultural products, machinery and construction products. Turkish SMEs, on the other hand, have imported machine parts from China and agricultural products from the U.S. and India. Other leading Turkish SME import products include food and agriculture, cars and motorcycles and home and garden products.