TURKEY - Profile - Osman Birsen.

Chairman of the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE), Birsen is also chairman of the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (EASE). He says the ISE in 1999 was the world's best-performing stock exchange, with close to 300 registered companies and $114 bn in trading. Fifty more public offerings are expected by end-2000.

The ISE was founded in 1985. "So, Birsen says, "even if you compare us with the exchanges of emerging markets, we are a latecomer to the global family... We are one of the world's fastest growing exchanges in terms of trading volume and technological standards". In terms of market capitali-sation, the ISE ranks 30th globally, while Turkey boasts the world's 16th largest economy. Only 126 of Turkey's top 500 companies are listed on the ISE. "If all these companies were floated, market capitalisation would double", he pointed out, adding: "Mergers are the latest fad. We are following developments closely and have already begun integrating 22 markets under the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges".

The Executive Vice Chairman of the ISE, Huseyin Erkan, says: "The growth potential and dynamism of this market is never ending". No sector of the Turkish economy was as quick to reap the immediate result of the country's recent economic improvements as the capital market. The ISE National-100 index in 1999 rose more than threefold and the $114 bn of trading placed Turkey among the top 10 emerging markets in terms of volume".