Alibaba, Amazon preparing to enter Turkish e-commerce market

Customs and Trade Minister Bülent Tüfenkci said he met with Alibaba and Amazon executives to discuss investment opportunities in Turkey.

The minister said that Alibaba and Amazon demanded a set of regulations to make investments in Turkey and that the process is underway to devise the technical terms.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Tüfenkci highlighted that there is a great opportunity for electronic commerce (e-commerce) in Turkey. He added that the ministry wants to mobilize this potential to boost the e-commerce sector in the country.

"Several international companies, including Alibaba and Amazon, want to operate in Turkey. Talks are in progress with our ministry, and I met with the two companies myself," Minister Tüfenkci continued.

Pointing out that these companies want to distribute in the region through representative offices to be established in Turkey, Tüfenkci drew attention to the necessary regulations related to customs and logistics infrastructure.Tüfenkci added that the ministry would organize an e-commerce workshop in the coming days.

In August 2016, it was reported that the U.S.-based e-commerce giant would enter the Turkish market and establish an office in Istanbul. The controlling shareholder of the company is the Luxembourg-based Amazon Europe Core S.à r.l, which means the office will be dependent on its European affiliate.The firm is expected to start operations by the end of 2018 at the latest. Amazon will run its activities in Turkey on www.amazon.com.tr. The Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba has been in talks with Turkish officials for a while to start operations in the country. Executives of the Chinese e-commerce giant previously highlighted their aim to enter the Turkish market and to contribute to Turkey's exports with a specific target of reaching $50 billion by 2023.