Can retail and shopping malls grow in such a world? Debt crisis, democracy rights…Is there a place where our business may continue to grow? My answer is yes. The opportunities and the markets are out there and they are not waiting, they are just moving ahead.

Despite the frozen economies of Europe and the sudden shocks in Middle East and North Africa, markets such as Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania and obviously the largest growing retail market in the region, Turkey, are offering opportunities for shopping mall developers and retailers.

Istanbul has become the new Dubai of the region with unlimited shopping and entertainment. The countries of the Caucasus such as Georgia and Azerbaijan are definitely on the move with Baku looking to be the new elite shopping destination for oil and gas rich countries in the region. Kazakhstan is back to the economic world and is looking for investors to move in together with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Iraq consumers are hungry for everything that can cross the border and Syria awaits the end of the crisis so to continue its rapid expansion in retail and shopping malls.

Obviously China allows for the most promising and attractive mall destination for the coming decade and I believe it is a government national target to boost local consumption and increase the retailing in the country with new shopping mall openings every two weeks. In China there is still a lot to offer to both, consumers and retailers.

India is another massive market but follows a slower pace due to its regional administration.

Africa is on the move even though it is affected by the aftermath of the democratic uprisings. Although in smaller sizes the African leaders understood that offering a higher standard of life to their citizens is a key factor for sustainable relations with the public. One of the steps to be taken is to deliver leisure and entertainment opportunities where people can socialise and spend high quality time, such as retailing and shopping malls.

How to get there? How to enter into such markets? What to expect there? This is the homework. You cannot be everywhere; therefore it’s time for cooperation. In all those countries, you can achieve a much faster expansion than you had in mind if you can put your added value on the table while searching for good partners. That’s what we did. With Turkmall we are active in most of the developing countries and we are developing retail and shopping malls.

Levent Eyuboglu is CEO of Turkmall