November 24 - From December 8-10, the Port of Hamburg will be presenting itself for the first time at the logitrans Transport Logistics trade fair in Istanbul.

Companies attending will be Buss GroupPolzug Intermodal,Seehafen KielSTENA Line Scandinavia AB as well as TCO Transcargo GmbH, as part of an initiative led by the Port of Hamburg Marketing within a German Pavilion.

The logitrans event, now in its fifth year, is considered the most important transport trade fair in the region and provides a good platform for international collaboration in the transport and logistics industry. Last year, the logitrans attracted more than 8,000 international visitors to the trade fair grounds.

Turkey is one of the world's fastest growing economic nations and meanwhile ranks in 17th position of the biggest macroeconomies: 350 foreign logistics companies are engaged in Turkey, investments in the logistics sector are growing substantially and the market holds the promise of a successful future in store.

The seaport of Kiel says it is looking forwards to its presence in Istanbul: "The event provides an outstanding platform for presenting our network of lines also in Turkey and to inform forwarding agents and carriers of the benefits of a transport route via Kiel," emphasises Dr Dirk Claus, managing director of Seehafen Kiel GmbH & Co. KG.

TCO Transcargo GmbH has been co-operating with forwarding agencies and logistics companies as well as direct customers in Turkey for many years now. "On account of the global changes unfolding with regard to the procurement and sales markets, Turkey as an emerging market is gaining increasing significance for us. So-called cross trade also represent an important logistics segment for us in the region," says Gerd Sander (TCO Transcargo GmbH).

Seven liner services connect the Port of Hamburg with Turkey, including both container and multi-purpose services along with a ro-ro service for transportation of vehicles and rolling cargo. In 2010, some 1.5 million tonnes of cargo were shipped between Hamburg and Turkey.