Chairman of the Board of Management of Koc Group, Mustafa V. Koc, informed Lord Davies about Arcelik and its international brand Beko at the visit also attended by CEO of Koc Group Dr. Bulent Bulgurlu, President of Durable Consumption and Construction Aka Gunduz Ozdemir, Arcelik General Manager Levent Cakiroglu.

 Mustafa V. Koc, who talked about the relationship between the UK and Turkey and the success of Beko in his speech said; “There is a historic special relationship between the UK and Turkey strengthened by political, social and economic cooperation. Our trade volume with the UK, which is one of our largest trading partners exceeds $14 billion and the UK is one of strongest supporters of Turkey’s EU membership.”

Koc, who also added that Britain had a special position for Koc’s international operations also said “The British market has played an important role in Arcelik and Beko’s journey to becoming international brands. Beko has carried out its first important export initiative in the UK. After its success in Britain, the same export structure was applied to France, Spain and other countries. Today, Arcelik is active in over 100 countries with 11 production facilities in 4 countries, 10 brands and 32 international marketing and sales companies. Beko is among the top three export brands in the UK, which is Koc’s second largest export destination. Arcelik’s success is based on our experiences in the British market. Our commercial cooperation with the UK also beneficial to the economic relations between the two countries. We will continue our activities in a way which will benefit both countries.”

Lord Mervyn Davies is visiting BEKO-Arcelik as a part of a visit to Turkey that will include the launching of a Joint Economic and Trade Committee. “The UK has strong ties to Turkey - our partner in the G20, a fellow NATO member and an EU candidate state,” he said.

Lord Davies was informed about the production processes of the facility, where 7% of all dishwashers sold world-wide, are manufactured. Lord Davies also received information about several products such as the “One button Dishwasher”, “World’s Fastest Dishwasher” and the “Ecologist”. Mustafa Koc presented Lord Davies with the Turkish coffee maker Telve, which combines a traditional ritual with technology.