Akbank brings together Turkish companies with Abu Dhabi’s Invest AD

Istanbul, Turkey, Feb. 9, 2010 - Akbank hosted meetings this week between chief executives from over a dozen Turkish companies and Abu Dhabi financial services firm Invest AD, which is looking to step up its investments in Turkey.

Akbank opened an office in Dubai last year and hosted a series of meetings at its headquarters at the Sabancı Center in Istanbul on Feb. 8-9. A high-level team from Invest AD met executives representing leading Turkish companies from various sectors, including construction, real estate, retail, services, energy and tourism.

Invest AD, which bought a stake in Turkish logistics firm EKOL in December for its new $400 million private equity fund, manages several funds that invest in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.

Invest AD Chief Executive Officer Nazem Al Kudsi said he was bullish on Turkey because of the country’s role as a trading centre between Europe and the Middle East, and its fast developing capital markets and financial sector.

“Turkish companies are starting to look eastwards to the Gulf for business opportunities and investment partners, and we believe Turkey is an exciting market, with great growth potential,” Al Kudsi said. “Invest AD has a strong regional network of relationships that extends to Turkey, and with Akbank’s help, we’re looking to build on that.”

Ziya Akkurt, Chief Executive Officer of Akbank, stated that Akbank’s intention for opening a Dubai office was first and foremost to play an intermediary role by encouraging and facilitating investment from the Region, particularly from the United Arab Emirates.

“We believe that such meetings will, in the near future, lead to very productive outcomes for Turkish companies as well as the Turkish economy.” Akkurt said. “We will continue to organize more events of this kind in order to attract investors from the Gulf region to our country.”About Invest AD:

Invest AD – The Abu Dhabi Investment Company – is a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Council. The company was established in 1977, by decree of the late President of the UAE, H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. After operating for three decades as an investment arm of the Abu Dhabi Government, the company recently expanded its activities by offering investment opportunities to institutional investors, including companies, pension funds, wealth managers, banks, insurance companies, investment platforms and other governments around the world.

Invest AD has a single-minded objective: to offer exceptional Middle East, Turkey and North Africa investments to clients around the world. Currently, Invest AD’s activities include fund management (asset management, private equity, infrastructure and real estate), investment banking (advisory) and management of proprietary assets on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government. http://www.investad.ae/