The Spanish-Turkish Chamber of Commerce recognizes the Dogus Group

The Spanish-Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry annually recognizes people, institutions and companies that have made a significant contribution to Spanish-Turkish relations. In the second edition of the awards, they recognized the work of the Dogus Group (in the Turkish company category), the automobile company Ficosa (in the Spanish company category) and Turkish FC Barcelona player Arda Turán (in the professional merit category).

At the awards ceremony in Madrid, Dogus Chairman Ferit Şahenk said that “ Sharing the great Mediterranean culture, Spain and Turkey have a lot in common". He also added that: "I think the most distinguishing and beautiful aspect of this culture is mutual interaction and hospitality. Indeed, our Spanish partners’ friendly and constructive approach played an important role in progressing our business cooperation.We have always felt home here, thanks to the very warm welcome by our counterparts, our Spanish friends".

Founded in 1951, the Dogus Group is one of Turkey’s largest conglomerates. It currently has more than 290 companies and around 50,000 workers. It has business in a wide range of sectors, such as financial services, the automobile industry, construction, tourism, the media, energy, the hospitality sector and new technologies. Dogus invested in Spain’s hotel sector earlier this year, acquiring the Hotel Villa Magna in Madrid. Its investments in the tourism and services sector have increased considerably throughout the year. Its company D-Marin Marinas Group is now operating in 11 marinas in five countries - including Spain. In 2015, the Group also purchased Marina Barcelona-92, the yacht maintenance and repair company located at the Barcelona marina.

Industry, Energy and Tourism Minister Álvaro Nadal, Turkish Ambassador to Spain Ömer Önhon, BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila and Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Ramón Gascón attended the awards ceremony. The Spanish-Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry was founded in 2011 in Madrid, with the goal of strengthening bilateral relations across all sectors. In the last 10 years, Spanish companies have invested more than €10 billion in Turkey. The volume of commercial relations between Turkey and Spain reached €9.8 billion in 2015 and more than 600 Spanish companies were operating in Turkey last year. BBVA has been present in Turkey since 2010, when it acquired 24.89% of Garanti’s capital – and it further increased its stake by 14.89% in July 2015.