With its feet firmly planted in both the European and Asian markets, Turkey is growing jewellery centre that not only offers a skilled and economical option to jewellery manufacturers in high-wage countries, but also a springboard to the growing markets in the Near East and Middle East, as well as the republics of the former Soviet Union.

Turkey is most well known as a producer of gold and silver jewellery, with a capacity to produce 400 tons of gold and 200 tons of silver annually. It currently ranks among the top-five countries in the world in gold jewellery production.

Istanbul serves as a centre of the Turkish jewellery industry, although there is also extensive production taking place in Ankara and Izmir, as well as in east and south east Anatolia. With some 250,000 people employed across the country in the precious metals, precious stones and jewellery sectors, there are at present more than 50 major companies employing between 200 and 1,500 workers.

A gold stock exchange was established in 1995 in Istanbul and a gold refinery began production in February 2002. The Istanbul Gold and Diamond Exchange was accepted as a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses at its congress in Shanghai, China, in April 2008.

In recent years, Turkey has developed into a major exporter of precious metals and jewellery products. In 2006 exports totalled U.S. $ 1.17 billion, up from U.S. $ 2.8 million worth in 1992. According to official data, gold jewellery exports stood at 85.8 tons in 2006, but accounting for informal and tourists sales it is believed that they were more than 150 tons. The United States was the most important export target, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and Italy. Other important markets include Germany, Spain, the Russian Federation, Israel, Poland and Latvia.

The host of the 2009 CIBJO Congress, the Turkey Jewelry Association, operates under the auspices of the Istanbul Precious Minerals and Jewellery Exporters' Association, which was founded in July 2003. The association is affiliated to the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey and the Under Secretariat of Foreign Trade. The basic goals of the association are to:

• Promote the export of Turkish jewellery and jewellery products;

• Advance the interests of the Turkish jewellery sector in the international domain, including the development of published materials, representation at international trade fairs, and the organisation of conferences, shows and congresses in Turkey;

• Support the activities of the jewellery export sector in Turkey.