People

David Tonge has been advising foreign investors in Turkey and Central Asia since 1983. His breadth and depth of knowledge of Turkey, its leading companies, its practices and its institutions is complemented by experience in the Caucasus and Central Asia. He is Managing Director of IBS Research & Consultancy, a broad-based consultancy founded, directing many of its major projects. IBS’s clients include five of the top 6 companies in the US and 6 of the top 8 in Europe.

He is a recognised authority on Turkey, being author of a wide range of publications. He has also developed investment guides on various Central Asian republics. He has led the corporate advisory work which IBS has carried out for investors in energy, industry and real estate.

His initial experience in Turkey was for the Economist Intelligence Unit. He helped establish their Ankara offices and build up their business, before moving to Athens. He later became Diplomatic Correspondent at the Financial Times, where he had broad responsibility for reporting on international corporate and economic developments, including writing editorial columns. He designed, edited and largely wrote the Financial Times annual surveys on Turkey and Greece.