Economy
India, Türkiye move to launch business association
The Embassy of India in Ankara and the Consulate General of India in Istanbul announced Monday that they had convened the first meeting to launch the India-Türkiye Business Association.
According to an official statement, the meeting brought together Indian and Turkish investors with established business interests in both countries.
The statement said the association would be the first business-led initiative of its kind aimed at building a dedicated community to promote trade and investment between India and Türkiye.
Participants discussed drafting the association’s charter and defining its vision, while also exploring ways to create more structured engagement between the two business communities.
The association is expected to operate as a business chamber and will be formally launched in the coming months, the statement said.
India’s Ambassador to Türkiye Muktesh Pardeshi said such organizations can help businesses in both countries build stronger ties and networks, allowing them to navigate the commercial environment more efficiently and effectively.
He emphasized that the time had come for an active, business-led body that could advocate for greater trade and investment between India and Türkiye.
Bilateral trade between the two countries currently stands at around $10 billion a year, after reaching a peak of $13.8 billion in 2023.
The statement added that both sides share the goal of raising total trade to $20 billion.
India has identified Türkiye as one of its top 25 export markets, while Türkiye has included India among the 18 countries in its targeted distant countries strategy.
Türkiye and Saudi Arabia signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on Tuesday aimed at strengthening cooperation in the railway and logistics sectors to enhance regional connectivity and trade links.
The agreements were signed in Riyadh following a meeting between Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu and Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser.
According to a statement from the Turkish Transport Ministry, one memorandum focuses on cooperation in logistics services, including the construction, operation and management of logistics centers.
The second agreement aims to expand collaboration across all areas of the railway sector.
Uraloğlu said uninterrupted trade and logistics flows have become increasingly critical amid ongoing regional tensions.
“At a time when our region is going through a sensitive period, ensuring the uninterrupted functioning of trade and logistics chains has become more critical than ever. Removing obstacles facing the transport sector is a strategic necessity,” he said.
The minister noted that bilateral road freight transport between the two countries had reached around 20,000 annual trips before 2012 but declined due to regional developments.
“Although current figures remain below those levels, our goal is to move cooperation beyond its previous peak,” Uraloğlu said.
He added that Türkiye is closely monitoring developments along routes passing through Syria, Jordan and Iraq, highlighting that two pilot freight operations from Türkiye to Saudi Arabia via Iraq had demonstrated the feasibility of the corridor.
Uraloğlu emphasized the importance of expanding both bilateral and transit transport, noting that transit routes provide access to European and Gulf markets and could strengthen regional trade integration.
He also stressed the need for secure and stable highway connections between the two countries and called for coordinated planning with regional partners to establish a future road map for transport cooperation.
On rail transport, Uraloğlu said a direct railway connection between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia would be of strategic importance. He also highlighted potential cooperation in high-speed rail systems and railway rolling stock.
Apple’s newly introduced AI Siri will have limited reach among many existing users, as older iPhone models are not equipped to run sophisticated AI features, Morgan Stanley said in a research note on Tuesday.
More than 850 million iPhones are incapable of running basic Apple Intelligence queries, and more than 1.3 billion iPhones cannot use advanced Siri features, the brokerage said.
The long-delayed Siri overhaul was the centerpiece of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, with the world’s most valuable smartphone maker betting on the feature to keep pace with rivals including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude.
Selling hardware on the strength of software is challenging, Morgan Stanley cautioned, even as AI accessibility ranks among the leading drivers of smartphone upgrades.
The bottleneck for the upgraded Siri and AI tools comes down to chip architecture and memory. Users need 12 GB of unified memory to run the most advanced Siri features, owing to the volume of on-device processing that Apple Intelligence requires, the brokerage said.
Türkiye announced on Tuesday the completion of another key phase in its first nuclear power project, with fuel loading tests carried out at the plant’s initial reactor unit.
The Energy and Natural Resources Ministry said a nuclear fuel assembly was symbolically loaded into the pressure vessel of Akkuyu’s first reactor as part of commissioning procedures.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar described it as one of the most important stages in the commissioning schedule of the first unit.
Akkuyu is being built in the southern Mersin province by Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom under a 2010 accord worth nearly $20 billion (TL 922.35 billion).
It will consist of four reactors with a combined installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts (MW), with each reactor capable of generating 1,200 MW.
The fuel loading tests were carried out for five days and were conducted under the supervision of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NDK), the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry said in a statement.
Sergei Butckikh, general manager of Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, said the process represented a comprehensive preparation and testing phase for the nuclear fuel loading process.
Butckikh said they tested procedures related to nuclear fuel under conditions as close as possible to actual operating conditions.
During the operation, the facility’s mechanical, hydraulic, and thermal systems, as well as its structural durability, were tested.
Next in line is the installation of the first reactor’s upper equipment.
Once assembly work is finalized, the unit will undergo cold and hot functional testing before entering operation.
Year-end power generation
“Our goal is to generate the first electricity from the plant by the end of the year, ushering Türkiye into a new era in nuclear energy,” Bayraktar said.
“We will make zero-emission, uninterrupted, and environmentally friendly nuclear energy one of the strongest sources in our country’s energy mix.”
Construction of Akkuyu began in 2018, and the plant was originally scheduled to start operations last year but faced delays due to multiple challenges.
Those included pandemic-related disruptions, delivery problems after Germany’s Siemens failed to supply key components and financial hurdles caused by Russian funds frozen abroad.
Bayraktar said in December that Russia had provided $9 billion in new financing for the project.
Once all four units are operational, Akkuyu is expected to supply from 10% to 15% of Türkiye’s electricity demand, making it the country’s largest single source of baseload power generation.
The plant is designed for a 60-year operating lifespan, with the possibility of extending operations for an additional 20 years.
Part of the electricity generated by the plant will be sold to the government under a fixed-price arrangement.
The facility is expected to help meet Türkiye’s growing power demand while providing stable generation that can complement the increasing share of intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
Bayraktar said Türkiye would not stop with Akkuyu.
It is also pursuing plans to build two additional nuclear power plants in Sinop on the Black Sea coast and in the Thrace region. Negotiations for the projects are ongoing with South Korea’s Kepco and Canada’s AtkinsRealis.
Türkiye aims to reach 7.2 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear capacity by 2035 and 20 GW by 2050. It plans to complement the conventional nuclear plants with small modular reactors.
These ambitions will help “move forward with determination toward the goal of a fully energy-independent Türkiye,” said Bayraktar.
China’s exports gained speed in May, buoyed by strong demand for chips, autos and other high-tech goods fuelling the global artificial intelligence boom, giving policymakers some relief as energy price shocks from the Iran conflict weigh on broader demand.
A surge in global AI investment has helped the world’s top manufacturer offset the export hit many had expected from the Middle East turmoil. But signs are emerging that stockpiling linked to higher energy costs is fading, with prices rising and overseas buyers starting to run down inventories as they wait for a cease-fire.
Exports expanded 19.4% from a year earlier in U.S. dollar value terms, customs data showed on Tuesday, outpacing the 14.1% gain in April and a 15% rise tipped by economists.
Imports notched another strong month, climbing 27.4% versus a rise of 25.3% a month prior. Economists had forecast growth of 25%.
“Chip price increases continue to support exports, with memory prices rising 20% month-on-month, pushing integrated circuit export growth to 111% for the month,” said Xing Zhaopeng, ANZ’s senior China strategist.
China’s exports of automated data processing equipment soared 66.1% in value terms year-over-year, high-tech products rose 50.9%, and shipments of cars jumped 39%, the data showed.
“Looking ahead, the AI story is far from over – chips are rewriting China’s trade landscape,” Xing added.
The AI boom has driven strong demand for semiconductors powering data centers and advanced electronics, playing to China’s manufacturing strengths. But early signs suggest that momentum may be starting to fade.
Separate factory activity data for May showed a steep drop in new export orders from April’s two-year peak, when warehouse managers reported “booming” business amid a scramble by foreign factories to lock in supplies.
Strong exports powered China’s $20 trillion economy past forecasts in the first quarter, but signs of cooling momentum have reinforced concerns that fragile domestic demand leaves it exposed to weaker global conditions and increases the likelihood of further policy support.
Beijing is under growing international pressure to strengthen domestic consumption, as critics warn its heavy reliance on imported inputs and re-exports is distorting trade and squeezing other emerging economies out of higher-value manufacturing.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) amplified that concern last week, noting in a report that nearly 60% of Chinese firms’ “market share gains can be explained by subsidies received.”
A new U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) paper found that China’s trade surplus – measured against global gross domestic product (GDP) – has topped 1%, well above the peaks Japan and Germany hit in the late 20th century, and shows little sign of narrowing. That suggests persistent Chinese industrial overcapacity will reshape global manufacturing for years.
A closely watched meeting last month between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping helped cool tensions but produced no meaningful breakthroughs, whether on tariff disputes or cooperation over ending the Iran conflict.
China’s trade surplus came in at $105.43 billion in May, up from $84.8 billion a month prior and from a forecast of $92.1 billion.
Türkiye and Canada have agreed to launch exploratory discussions toward a free trade agreement (FTA), according to a joint statement from the countries’ trade ministries on Tuesday.
Turkish and Canadian trade ministers, Ömer Bolat and Maninder Sidhu, met to advance the strong and growing economic partnership between the two countries, the statement said.
“Building on the recent call between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Mark Carney, the ministers reaffirmed their shared commitment to deepening the Türkiye-Canada trade and investment relationship,” it noted.
“To that end, they agreed to launch exploratory discussions toward a free trade agreement, a step that reflects the ambition of both countries to unlock the full potential of commercial partnership,” it added.
According to the statement, the ministers welcomed the recent expansion of the Air Transport Agreement, which strengthens connectivity between the two countries and opens new opportunities for travelers, businesses, and exporters.
“Enhanced air links will support stronger commercial ties and bring our economies closer together,” it noted.
Moreover, the statement said that the minister recognized the deep people-to-people ties that anchor the relationship between the two nations.
Additionally, it said that they have “identified energy as a pioneering area for expanded cooperation.”
“They have agreed to explore opportunities in renewable energy as both countries advance their clean energy transitions, as well as in nuclear energy, including the potential of Canadian CANDU technology to support Türkiye’s diversification goals.”
The statement also underscored that ministers welcomed “the prospect of closer collaboration in aerospace.” It also suggested that the ministers agreed to exchange visits and to look forward to “continued close engagement as Türkiye and Canada work together to expand trade, attract investment and deliver lasting benefits for the people of both countries.”
Italy’s largest lender, Intesa Sanpaolo, launched a mega 31-billion-euro ($35 billion) bid on Monday for rival Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the world’s oldest bank, kicking off a new round of consolidation in the country’s banking sector.
Intesa said its proposal would create the second-largest bank in the eurozone by market value, with a network of 3,000 branches.
“The financial and banking sector, both at the Italian and European level, requires a consolidation process that creates large-scale projects capable of supporting the necessary investments,” Intesa said.
Larger banking groups can “compete with new players and maintain adequate levels of profitability in an increasingly integrated market,” it added.
A successful transaction, which would rank among the country’s biggest banking deals ever, would place Intesa behind Spain’s Santander in terms of market value, surpassing France’s BNP Paribas and domestic rival UniCredit, which is currently striving to grow its German business by buying Commerzbank.
Intesa CEO Carlo Messina said the offer, although not previously agreed, was friendly towards the MPS investors, and he was confident of securing their support by the time the bid concludes in December.
Speaking in a call, he said that he was on good terms with the two principal investors, the Delfin holding and businessman Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, and was offering a cash component precisely to win them over.
“We will reach the minimum (targeted threshold of 66.67%),” he told an analyst call on Monday. “We have very good relations with Delfin and Caltagirone.”
Intesa said its offer entailed a premium of 12.5% versus the closing share price of MPS on Friday, which gave MPS a market value of 27.4 billion euros.
Shares in MPS jumped more than 10% on Monday while those in Intesa lost 4%.
Intesa’s bid is also a direct challenge to Banco BPM, which on Sunday said it would invite MPS to discuss a potential “merger of equals” to create Italy’s second-biggest bank.
BPM said the combined company would be worth “more than EUR50 billion” ($58 billion) and constitute “a new national champion.”
MPS recently formed the country’s third-biggest banking group after buying Mediobanca last year.
BPM’s proposal is ‘a love letter’
MPS, bailed out by the state in 2017 and reprivatised in 2023-2024, has been a focus of domestic bank mergers since becoming the main investor in insurer Generali last year, a coveted asset in Italian finance.
Intesa’s move sidelines Banco BPM, which has long been the leading candidate to merge with MPS. Amid mounting expectations of an Intesa bid, Banco BPM, Italy’s fourth-largest bank, said on Sunday it wanted to open talks with MPS about a potential merger.
Messina quipped that the BPM approach to MPS was a “love letter” as opposed to his concrete offer, adding the bid had not been prompted by BPM’s approach but rather the other way round.
Under Italian takeover rules, Intesa’s formal bid now prevents MPS from agreeing on the terms of a deal with BPM without prior shareholder approval.
MPS has a scheduled board meeting later on Monday, and the bank said it will not comment on Intesa or BPM until its board discusses the matter at the meeting.
Unipol deal
Intesa secured a fifth of the Italian banking market when it bought mid-sized UBI back in 2020, leapfrogging UniCredit to become Italy’s largest bank.
Citing antitrust limits, Intesa has kept out of a wave of mergers and acquisitions in Italy’s banking sector that began in November 2024, with Messina previously describing it as “the Wild West.”
To address competition issues, Intesa said on Monday it had struck a deal with insurer Unipol to sell a banking business comprising 635 MPS branches – roughly half the total – and MPS’ central offices in Siena, if its bid is successful.
Unipol is the main investor in smaller bank BPER Banca and an Intesa ally. It had played a similar role in the UBI deal, buying branches to help Intesa gain antitrust approval while supporting BPER’s expansion.
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