HALAL - Turkey's standards body to issue halal food certificates

Turkish Standards Institute (TSE) President Hulusi Şentürk has announced the TSE will start issuing halal food certificates for eligible products this fall.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, Şentürk said the TSE has already started working on having its authority recognized by other Muslim nations. He said an official meeting in Cameroon that was attended by standardization representatives from 33 Muslim countries last month was the venue for TSE to launch the process. “There is a $930 billion halal food market worldwide. We have to enable Turkish businesses to enter this market with an advantage,” he said. (source)

BANKING - Bank Asya posts TL 48 million net profit in first quarter

Turkey's leading participation bank Bank Asya has said its net profit for the January-March period of this year is TL 48 million ($30.3 million), down from TL 59 million posted the same period a year ago.

 

The bank announced its unconsolidated financial results for the first quarter of this year on Thursday. According to the latest figures, the participation bank's total assets equal TL 14.51 billion, while its financial contribution to the Turkish economy – through the extension of loans -- has surpassed TL 21 billion.
The bank's statement also underlined that its loans extended went up by almost 30 percent, to TL 11.44 billion, in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period of 2010, while deposits in savings (participation) and checking accounts in the first quarter of this year increased by 18.08 percent to TL 11 billion. (full story)