A growing list of global multinational companies and NGOs are relocating their Regional Headquarters to Istanbul to manage operations in the surrounding region. Where multinationals struggled in the past to decide where Turkey best fitted into their organisational structure, Turkey’s emerging power status combined with Istanbul’s rise as a global city and important air travel hub has now placed Istanbul at the strategic center as a regional operations base. Turkey’s geographical and cultural advantage as a natural bridge between East and West, together with its young, well-educated workforce, fast growing internal market and strategic trade links to neighbouring markets are key factors for multinational companies. Together with London, Paris and Moscow, Istanbul is one of the four European mega cities that offer truly global scale. Istanbul figures in the top 10 of emerging urban centres with rapid economic growth and real estate development, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s (JLL). With phase one of the new six-runway Istanbul airport due to open in 2017, with an eventual planned capacity of 150 million passengers a year and as the new hub for Turkish Airlines, the growth of Istanbul as a Regional Business Hub looks set to climb ever higher. Jones Lang LaSalle’s (JLL) “Globalization and Competition: A New World of Cities” report.