Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary

2. Introduction

3. Politics and Legal

4. Economy

5. Culture

6. Technology

7. Conclusion

8. References

1. Executive Summary

At the crossroad between Asia and Europe lies an ancient country with a unique culture blend due to its geographic location. Throughout the ages, the land had encountered several astounding occurrences to become the country that Turkey is now.

Before the declaration of independence, Turkey was under the Ottoman rule for 623 years. In 1923, national hero Mustafa Kemal broke free from the Ottoman Empire, and established to international recognition of a sovereign ‘Republic of Turkey’. The great leader was later presented with the honorific surname "Atatürk" (Father of the Turks) in 1934. His leadership has brought the country to adopt in reformations of social, legal and political structures. (Howard, D. A. 2001)

Since democracy, Turkey’s economy continues to grow despite being a developed country and is positioned as one of the world’s largest nominal GDP with its rank of 17th, and 18th for PPP (Purchasing Parity Power) GDP. Its industry in agriculture, banking, communication, electronics, oil refining, transportation and textiles have caused Turkey’s economy to thrive. The tourism sector had also contributed much to the growing economy.

The astonishing scenery, rich historic heritage and flavourful Turkish cuisine are the factors that draws tourists from all around the world to visit. This bolstered Turkey’s ranking in the World Tourism Ranking as being the world’s 6th most popular tourism destination by UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization).

One of Turkey’s greatest heritage will be the Turkish cuisine that was influenced by the Ottoman cuisine, which comprises a blend of Balkan, Caucasian, Central Asian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavours (Aktaş, A., Aksu, A. A., & Çizel, B. 2007). Vegetables, herbs and spices from plants, seeds and nuts are heavily used in the making of the dishes. The spices and herbs add diversification to Turkish cuisine and gives it a crowning touch.

Thai Express, a Singapore chain restaurant serving modern Thai food, envisioned a positive prospect of Thai food popularity in Turkey. Thai cuisine has been ranked top 5 most popular cuisine in the world according to CNN and the demand for Thai food will continue to increase around the world. (Sunanta, S. 2005)

Thai cuisine is typically relished with spices, and most of the dishes are prepared with assorted vegetables. Vegetables, spices and herbs seemed to be the fundamental for both Thai and Turkish cuisines, despite these two cuisines having their individual unique flavour. The introduction of Thai cuisine is poised to gain acceptance from the Turks and allow them to have a taste of Thai cuisine.

2. Introduction

Thai Express is a restaurant that serves modern Thai cuisine with its foremost restaurant opened at Holland Village in Singapore on May 2002. With its daring interpretation of Thai styled cuisines, bundled with fuss-free dining; its success is certainly seen through its 30 restaurants openings all around Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Australia, India, Mongolia within the past 10 years. The restaurants are well received amongst customers from numerous countries.

This macro report intends to equip Thai Express with a summary analysis of Turkey's macro environment, using the Thai Express Brand for potential market penetration. We chose Turkey as the particular market of entry as it had satisfactory conditions which is in our favour, and will be discussed in this report.

Turkey

The declaration of the Republic was on 29th October 1923 with Ankara as its capital and Istanbul as the largest city. The current population is estimated to be 81,619,392 people (CIA World Factbook, 2014).

Demographic

Urbanization urban population: 71.5% of total population (2011)rate of urbanization: 2.4% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major cities - population (2013)

Istanbul 13,820,334Ankara 4,474,305Izmir 2,828,927Bursa 1,769,752Adana 1,645,965Gaziantep 1,465,019

Nationality noun: Turk(s)adjective: Turkish

Religions Muslim 99.8% [mostly Sunni], other 0.2% [mostly Christians and Jews] (CIA.gov, 2015)

Languages Turkish (official), Kurdish, other minority languages

CIA World Factbook (Updated by June 30, 2015)

3. Politics and Legal With a population of a 81.6 million, a Parliamental Republic and supported by a civil lawsystem (Turkish Statistical Institute 2014), Turkey is a multi-party state with 550 seats inlegislation (Turkish Elections 2015). The Parliament of Turkey, also known as the The Grand National Assembly of Turkey(TGNA),was founded on April 23, 1920 as a constituent assembly (The Grand NationalAssembly of Turkey 2015). To date, Turkey runs with a unicameral legislation (CIA – theWorld Factbook 2015), which means it has a single parliamentary chamber to pass itslaws. As of 2011, Turkey holds the 6th largest armed forces (Bellamy & Williams, 2013, p.372).While playing a smaller role in politics, the military strength of Turkey is a foundation ofsecurity for investors looking to invest in the country. From their national census

(Turkish Statistical Institute 2014) in regards to trade, Turkey has seen a steady rise in theirexports, which is representative of the stability of the economy and security in whichThai Express can find, expanding into Turkey. Fig. 3.1. Foreign trade Statistics for Turkey Being a member of the World Trade Organisation(WTO) as of 26 March 1995(Greenaway, 2011, p.2) accords Turkey the standards of the General Agreements onTariffs and Trade (GATT) (World Trade Organisation, 1999). The political agreement isrepresentative that as Thai Express enters Turkey, they would be secure in obtainingresources for their business via trade with global & enforceable trade laws. Turkey also implemented a new tax rate in 2013 for corporations in its bid to attractnewer investors; and in our case, Thai Express, into the country. At 20% (Deloitte 2014,p.8), Turkey holds one of the most competitive corporate tax rate. Finally, with the establishment of the New Turkish Commercial Code (TCC), numbered6102 in the Official Gazette of Turkey on February 14, 2011 (Ketenci & Ketenci 2012)brought in a new age of transparency within the Turkish trading laws. In alignmentwith the European Union’s taxation standard, TCC sets the bar for companies to complywith financial reporting which eliminates unethical and opaque business models(PriceWaterhouseCooper 2011, p. 5), minimising the risk of unethical competition whichmight pose a threat to Thai Express’ entry into Turkey.

CIA - The World Factbook. (2015). Retrieved from

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/tu.htmlGreenaway, D. (2011). Turkey: Trade Policy Review, 2007. In The world economy: Global trade policy 2010. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.World Trade Organization. (1999). General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Geneva, Sz: WTO.Deloitte. (2014). Taxation and Investment in Turkey 2014. Reach, Relevance and Reliability, 8.Ketenci & Ketenci. (2012). New Turkish Commercial Code. Retrieved from http://www.ketencilaw.com/new-turkish-commercial-code.htmlPriceWaterhouseCooper. (2011). New Turkish Commercial Code - A Blueprint For The Future. Retrieved from www.pwc.com/en_TR/TR/.../ttk.../ttk-a_blueprint_for_the_future.pdf

4. Economy

Turkey has the world's 17th largest nominal GDP of US$806,108 million, and 18th largest GDP by Purchasing Power Parity of US$1,508.1 trillion according to International Monetary Fund (IMF, 2014). Turkey’s large free market has been increasing driven by its industry in agriculture, banking, communication, electronics, mining, machine industry, oil refining, transportation and textiles.

The tourism sector contributed largely to Turkey’s economy where $27.9 billion of Turkey's revenues came from 37.8 million foreign visitors in 2013. (Gokovali, U. 2010)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 2.1%highest 10%: 30.3% (2008)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 40.2 (2010)43.6 (2003)country comparison to the world: 57

Unemployment rate: 9.9% (2014 est.)9.1% (2013 est.)country comparison to the world: 106

Inflation rate 7.6% (2013 est.)8.9% (2012 est.)

Exchange rates: Turkish liras (TRY) per US dollar -2.191 (2014 est.)1.9038 (2013 est.)1.8 (2012 est.)

CIA World Factbook (Updated by June 30, 2015)

As we can see from the inflation chart above, the annual consumer prices percentage is constant and similar to Singapore’s market from 2009 – 2014. Hence, we can conclude that its population would have similar sensitivity to prices of amenities in reference to Singapore, which facilitates Thai Express’ penetration into the market.

5. Culture 5.1 Elements of culture

Cultural Aspect

Turkish Calendar

● Both Islamic and Solar calendar

Ethnic Groups

● Major ethnic groups includes: Kurds, Turks, Roma, Laz, Ezidis and Caucasians.

● Turkey houses minor ethnic groups which includes Armenians, Arabs.

Food ● According to Islamic dietary law, Muslims are banned from consuming pork, meat that are slaughtered not in accordance to Islamic practises, and animals who prey on others for food.(Dodge 2003)

● Percentage of products consumed by turkish as of 2013:1. Bread (91%)2. Rice (65%)3. Fish (32.74%)4. Poultry (66.33%)5. Eggs (83.82%)

Aesthetics ● ThaiExpress uses Red, White and Orange in their brand logo.● Red means love, energy and passion to Turkish.(Akcay, Dalgin &

Bhatnagar 2011) However, it also signifies death.(Kotabe et al. 2014)● In Turkey, white signifies honor, wisdom and honesty. Having a “white”

face indicates you have nothing to hide.(Delong & Martinson 2012) However, it also signifies death. In Funerals, colour of the shroud worn by the deceased is white.(Turkey, Turkish Culture 2015)

● Lastly, orange signifies Balance, warmth, and Energy.

Languages ● Main language used in Turkey is Turkish, Kurdish being the second most spoken language.

Education ● Turkey has an adult literacy rate of 94.1% for individuals age 15 and above.

● Literacy rate improved significantly as compared to 2005, from 88%, to 94% in year 2012.(The World Bank 2015)

● Increased in education level of Turkish have improved the economy.(Eds Nohl, Wigley & Wigley 2008)

Symbolism ● Ankara is the capital of Turkey, being the central city of all states

● National emblems of Tukey includes the moon and star on the Turkey flag.

● The prints which many Anatolian Turkish Rugs has.

Labor in Turkey

● The young contributes substantially to the labor force growth in Turkey. It has helped Turkey to have an edge over its competitors.

● Turkish has one of the most malleable and able labor force in the world.

● Men perform more of craft and related trade workers, whilst

women work as skilled agricultural workers.

Role of men and women

● Formation of the Turkish Republic in the 1920s have granted women with an equal status as men. However, women still have to deal with problems that emerge from traditional values. (Turkish cultural foundation 2015)

● Men in Turkey generally command the high ranking and prestigious jobs.

● Women are starting to join the labour force, but as of 2014, only 33.6% of women are active in the labour force, as compared to 76.6% participation rate from men. (Turkey, Turkish Statistical Institute 2015)

5.2 Geert’s Hofstede Dimensions

Cultural Dimension

Singapore Turkey

Power Distance

- Singapore scores high on this dimension 74

-Hierarchy is established strictly for

- Turkey scores high on this dimension with a score of 64.

- -Relatively similar in comparison, thus

performance and effectiveness.- -Power is centralised and managers

rely on their boss for directions-Employees expect to be told what to do. -Communication between managers and employees is formal and indirect.

management in Thai express would be similar to that of Singapore.

Individualism - Singapore scoring 20 on this dimension, shows that a collective society is present.

- -Tightly-knit society where people are expected to work as a team.-Harmony and ‘family’ values are very important.

- Turkey, with a score of 37 is a collectivistic society.

- This means that the “we” is important and people will look out for each other in exchange for loyalty. Open conflicts are avoided and relationships are prioritized over task fulfillment.

Masculinity - Singapore scores 48 on this dimension and is considered to be in the “middle’ scale but leaning towards feminine.

Modesty and humility is important -Having a work life balance is desired.

-

- Turkey scores 45 and is therefore considered to be a feminine society.

- - Focus on “working to live” instead of “living to work”.

- Quality of life is preferred Thus Thai express will be branded towards the middle income families.

Uncertainty Avoidance

- Singapore scores low on this dimension (8).-Singaporeans abide by the many rules and regulation.-Open to changes and reform.

- Turkey scores 85 on this dimension reflecting a high uncertainty avoidance. -huge need for laws and regulation.

-Use traditional method to solve issues. -Religious and base their values on what their religion teaches.Managers in thai express have to implement rules and regulation to attain a certain level of effectiveness and also to be respect employee's religion.

Long Term orientation

- Singapore scores 72 on this dimension having a pragmatic culture.

- -encourage modern education and planning in advance for sustainability

- Turkey scores 46 which is in the middle thus no dominant culture preference could be inferred. However, thai express should still make efforts to forge strong customer and supplier relationship to boost brand loyalty.

6. Technology

Turkey is the new emerging leader in the technology market. With half of the population in the country under 30 who are well-educated and tech-savvy thinkers. Moreover, Turkey has greater expected college graduation percentage than Italy. Adding on, Turkey has more than 68 million people owning a smartphone, which is 84% of the population and more than 30 million Facebook users. (Techcrunch 2015)

Turkey has been investing massively in improving their infrastructure, such as the new airport that is built at the North of Istanbul, a new port at Galata and new bridge. Turkey is ranked 17th over 39 emerging economies in infrastructure category according to Towers Watson Services Offshoring Ranking. With its new and highly developed technological infrastructures in transportation, telecommunications and energy, as well as, well-developed and low-cost sea transport facilities, has attract many foreign investor to invest in Turkey. (Ernst & Young 2013)

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) represented a significant part in the growth of Turkey’s economy. More than half of all households in Turkey owns a computer with Internet access and around 42% of Internet users, which is higher than

China and Brazil.(The Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency 2015) Many companies are investing immensely in ICT industry due to its large domestic market with sizeable potential and captivating cost advantage, making Turkey one of the fastest growing ICT industries.

Like most countries, Turkey has also ride on the social media trend. Many organizations are now taking advantage of the extensive reach of social media to help in their marketing and branding efforts.

The above survey conducted in 2015 shows that Facebook is the largest social media platform used by companies for marketing and brand awareness effort. This was due to a fact that Facebook has over 30 million users from Turkey which ranked 7th in the world and more than 80% of these users access through their mobile phones.(Michael. A 2015)

Thai express would clearly benefit from the rapid technological growth in Turkey, as technology is now the leading way to reach out to the mass market. The information and communication technologies industries have help companies to heighten their marketing efforts online. Hence, making marketing initiatives easier in Turkey.

7. Conclusion

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