The Embassy's Economic Section monitors and manages economic relations between the United States and Turkey.  The section provides U.S. government agencies in Washington D.C. and other U.S. embassies around the world with accurate, timely, first-hand information and expert analysis on Turkish economic and financial developments.  It supports U.S. economic and commercial interests by informing U.S. economic policy toward Turkey, encouraging further liberalization of Turkish markets, advocating for policies that improve the business and investment climate in Turkey, and promoting bilateral trade and investment.  The Economic Section works closely with other Embassy offices including the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service and the U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service.

Iran Sanctions

Specific Projects: Entrprenureship

• Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) is an alliance to foster public-private partnerships that are committed to broadening and deepening engagement between the United States and local communities abroad  (including Turkey) in support of President Obama’s vision for a New Beginning based on mutual interests and respect. Please click here for more information.
• FSECC  is the bilateral Cabinet-level Framework for Strategic Economic and Commercial Cooperation. In December 2009, President Obama established a Cabinet-level Framework for Strategic Economic and Commercial Cooperation (FSECC), jointly chaired by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Locke and U.S. Trade Representative Kirk and by Deputy Prime Minister Babacan and Minister of Trade Caglayan.  FSECC builds on the Economic Partnership Commission (EPC, chaired by the Department of State and Ministry of Foreign Affairs), and the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA, chaired by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade).  U.S.-Turkey Business Council (with membership from 8 U.S. companies and 11 Turkish companies), an integral part of the policy discussion within the FSECC, is expected to hold its first meeting in late summer 2011.  The inaugural FSECC meeting was held in Washington on October 19, 2010. 
• The Economic Partnership Commission, chaired by State Department Assistant Secretary for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs Jose Fernandez and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Under Secretary for the Americas Selim Yenel, forms an integral part of our bilateral economic dialog and has focused on moving our discussions to a more strategic level.  Particular attention has been placed on enhancing business-to-business ties, promoting innovation, energy sector cooperation and cooperation between U.S. and Turkish companies in third countries, with particular focus on Afghanistan, Iraq and within Africa.
• The Near-Zero Zone project was implemented by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) from January 2011 to September 2012 at the Ataturk Industrial Zone in Izmir, Turkey.  This project was executed in coordination with other U.S. government agencies and with the support of the Government of Turkey.  Twenty industrial companies from the zone worked with seven energy services companies to identify and implement energy-saving measures within their industrial facilities.   Some of the impressive results included an average decrease of 24% electricity usage through projects that paid for themselves in as little as twelve months.  The average internal rate of return for the recommended energy efficiency investments was 56%.  DOE is now planning to work with Turkey’s High Council of Industrial Zones to develop a technical training workshop for energy managers and financial officers from all of Turkey’s 271 industrial zones as a project capstone event that could take place as early as January 2013.