Sector Inquiry Report related to Exposition Business prepared by the Competition Authority about the problems in exposition organization sector in Turkey was introduced during the panel “Introduction and Evaluation of Competition Authority Sector Inquiry related to Exposition Business” held at the premises of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce. 
In his opening speech, Prof. Ömer Torlak, President of the Competition Authority, reminded that the Authority has two fundamental duties, “enforcement of competition law rules” and “competition advocacy” and emphasized that sector inquiries are one of the most effective tools of competition advocacy.  
Torlak added that exposition business provides employment and income opportunities directly and indirectly; besides, expositions contribute to urban growth, export and promotion of the country. 
Highlighting that Turkey has an important potential related to exposition business, Torlak said “It is estimated that annual average growth rate of global exposition market will be 5%. That rate is above the annual average growth estimation for global gross income."
Torlak also noted that the most important source of the estimated growth of exposition sector is developing countries. Exposition organizers active in international field are heading towards such growing markets by means of geographical adaptations and acquisitions, which is an indication of that fact. 
Torlak added: “Turkey is one of the countries which has been positively affected by this change in the geographical structure of exposition business due to its geographically strategic location. The growth in foreign investment in exposition business, increase in the number of international expositions and foreign visitors are reflections of such positive effects. As a result of the developments, in the last decade, exposition business in Turkey has a growth trend.  According to the calculations based on parameters such as actual exposition number participant number, rented booth areas, Turkey’s share in global exposition business is approximately 1-1,5%. However, considering the income from exposition organization activities, our share is unfortunately very low.  One of the reasons for this is that booth renting fees are generally very low compared to global average.”
The Chairman of the Board of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Şekib Avdagiç appreciated the report and emphasized that the report made successful observations about the sector and sheds light on the future of the sector. 
Avdagiç stated that Istanbul Chamber of Commerce organizes more than 40 expositions abroad with  the support of Ministry of Trade, exposition sector increases other sectors’ sales volume and Turkey has to advance its exposition sector. 
The biggest exposition center in Istanbul is on the 38th rank and exposition areas in Istanbul are not sufficient. Avdagiç said “Istanbul needs an exposition area of 250 - 400 thousand square meters. We are on the second place in Europe with respect to exposition number. However, we are on the eight place with respect to income from expositions. There is a contradiction here. To me, we should take Germany as an example. Germany has been very successful since 1950 in exposition business.”
Avdagiç also underlined that similar expositions are organized in Istanbul on near dates and this negatively affects foreign and domestic participants. Exposition organizers should pay attention to this and organize more efficient and result oriented expositions.
Chief Competition Experts Çiğdem Tunçel and Burak Sağlam presented the “Sector Inquiry Report related to Exposition Business” after opening speeches. The inquiry suggested that foreign participation should be improved in terms of quantity and quality in order to increase Turkey’s international competition power. Istanbul is followed by İzmir, Konya, Bursa and Antalya, with respect to exposition area, and by Ankara, İzmir, Bursa and Antalya with respect to number of expositions. Moreover, the inquiry highlights that Ankara is among the first five cities in the ranking for exposition number but lags behind with respect to exposition area size. 
Following the introduction of the report, Panel on Exposition Sector Inquiry started. In the panel moderated by Kürşat Ünlüsoy, Vice President of the Competition Authority, Hülya Akkaya, Vice President of TOBB Exposition Business Council, Aylin Odabaş, Director of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce responsible for Expositions, Bülent Ünal, the Head of Turkey Exposition Organizers Association and Zeki Erdoğan, the Head of Eurasia Exposition Organizers Association presented their observations and evaluations about the report.
At the end of the meeting, Prof. Torlak extended his thanks to those who contributed to the report and participants.