Turkish-American Business Association - American Chamber of Commerce (TABA AmCham) Chairman Ali Osman Akat said yesterday that Turkey is a golden market for U.S. firms and that TABA AmCham wants to meet with officials in several states in the country to establish an organized industrial zone.

Akat said U.S. companies, which began to come to Turkey in 1980 with the vision of late prime minister and president, Turgut Özal, have reached $85 billion to 100 billion in investments to date.

Akat said that U.S. companies have increased their investments with the opportunities and gains in Turkey. He cited that 85 percent of shampoos used in Turkey are U.S. products while many hotel investments are managed by Americans.

Explaining that these companies use a part of the profit they gain as tax payments and some part to grow in Turkey, Akat said they legally transfer the remaining amount to the main company in their country, meaning that if these companies have an average profit of 5 percent to 10 percent per year, they take a large part of it to their own countries. "Setting out with this logic, what are Turks in the U.S. doing? You cannot find anything that says Turkish-American firms worth more than $2 billion," Akat continued. "However, when we investigate individually region by region, there are Turkish-American firms worth over $20 billion, but all of them say they are American companies and most of their owners have green cards or American citizenship."

Akat said that Turks in the U.S. are disconnected from nongovernmental organizations. "Most Turks in the U.S. see time spent on nongovernmental organizations as unnecessary because time in the U.S. is very expensive. So they slowly moved away because they could not see an element that would benefit them," Akat said.Akat said that it is not easy to collect Turks in the U.S. under a very strong umbrella, but that as Turkish-American businesspeople, they are planning to meet with officials from several states to establish a Turkish organized industrial zone.

He explained that trade in the U.S. is run with a higher price range and profitability than Europe. "For example, you can easily sell a perfume sold for $6 in Turkey for $19 retail in the U.S. while a room fragrance sold for $7 or $8 in Turkey can retail for $25 in the U.S.," Akat said. He added that according to the market research they conducted, the price advantage for many products is higher and more profitable in the U.S. "After paying about 20 percent tax, a growth plan in the U.S. can be targeted with the remaining profit. More money is brought to Turkey. If you invest well in the U.S., you can find funding for your investment."