Why Foreign Investors and Buyers Search in English
A foreign investor and a foreign buyer ask the same question for different reasons: can this company be relied on? Both look for the answer in the same place — written, accessible information in a language they read. When they cannot find it, both do the same thing: remove the company from the list.
This is the reasoning behind Turkey’s new English disclosure requirement. The adequacy of English-language disclosure had already been raised in international assessments of the market.
This article explains why a language barrier is an information barrier, and how it shapes decisions.
Why They Search in Their Own Language
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- Decisions must be defended
- Translation does not transfer liability
- Comparison requires a standard
- Time has a cost
The question sounds simple, but the answer is about accountability rather than preference.
Decisions must be defended
An investor or a procurement manager has to justify a decision inside their own organisation. They cannot base that on material they read in a language they do not command — the risk becomes personal.
Translation does not transfer liability
If machine translation introduces an error, responsibility still sits with the decision-maker. Rather than trusting it, they skip the source.
Comparison requires a standard
Comparing five suppliers requires all five to present information in a comparable form. If one is in a language the others are not, comparison fails and that firm drops out.
Time has a cost
Any source requiring extra effort loses to one that does not. Where a competitor supplies the same information directly, the choice makes itself.
What the Criticism Was
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- Accessibility as a rating criterion
- The issue was inconsistency, not absence
- Standard precedes quality
- Market standing returns to the company
A concrete assessment problem sits behind the regulation.
Accessibility as a rating criterion
International index providers assess ease of access to information when evaluating a market. That affects the market’s standing rather than any single company’s.
The issue was inconsistency, not absence
The problem was not that some companies failed to publish in English but that the practice was not standard. Some did, some did not, and that uncertainty complicated assessment.
Standard precedes quality
The regulation does not evaluate translation quality. It first ensures everyone releases the same information at the same time, which is what makes comparison possible.
Market standing returns to the company
When a market’s assessment improves, every company in it benefits — a gain outside any single firm’s control but built from their collective contribution.
The Same Mechanism on the Buyer Side
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- Buyers carry risk too
- Elimination is silent
- The first cut is made on information
- Recovery is difficult
What holds for investors holds for buyers, except nobody regulates it.
Buyers carry risk too
Choosing the wrong supplier costs delay, quality failure and customer loss. Assessing that risk requires information similar to what an investor wants.
Elimination is silent
Incomplete disclosure by a listed company draws a sanction. On the supplier side nobody gives feedback; the firm never learns why it was not chosen.
The first cut is made on information
A procurement manager builds a long list, then shortlists whoever they can find information about. Elimination is complete before any conversation begins.
Recovery is difficult
A firm that never made the shortlist is not assessed in that tender, however capable it is. The next opportunity is a cycle away.
What Information Is Sought
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- What you do
- At what scale
- Who you work with
- Documentation and continuity
The two audiences look for substantially the same things, which is why one investment can serve two channels.
What you do
Field of activity, product groups, production method. The first question for both.
At what scale
Capacity, headcount, facilities. An investor reads it for growth potential, a buyer for order fulfilment capability.
Who you work with
References, export destinations, sectors served. Risk-reducing information for both.
Documentation and continuity
Certificates, quality credentials, years in operation. The most concrete markers of reliability, and identical for both audiences.
What Happens If They Cannot Find It
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- You are not rejected — you are not assessed
- The loss cannot be measured
- A competitor fills the space
- Price becomes the only lever
The consequence of missing information is usually invisible, which is why it is underestimated.
You are not rejected — you are not assessed
A party that cannot reach the information does not decide against you; they do not decide at all. The firm never enters the list, and that loss appears in no report.
The loss cannot be measured
Enquiries received can be counted; enquiries never made cannot. This is why the cost of a language gap goes uncalculated in most companies.
A competitor fills the space
Where a firm in the same sector publishes in English, that entire enquiry flow goes to them. Market share changes hands quietly.
Price becomes the only lever
A firm assessed late because of missing information can only close the gap on price, which returns as lost margin.
A Solid Digital Foundation
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- Existing is not the same as findable
- Language and country signals are read separately
- Document access is a separate threshold
- One investment, two audiences
The language barrier looks like a translation problem but resolves on the accessibility side.
Existing is not the same as findable
An English page published without correct technical markup returns nothing in search. Where visibility is measured is a separate subject.
Language and country signals are read separately
A buyer in Germany may search in English; so may a foreign-owned company operating locally. Narrowing by country alone leaves that audience out. How these signals are interpreted is described in the Search Central documentation.
Document access is a separate threshold
Certificates and technical documents held ready on the site, rather than emailed on request, shorten assessment by days.
One investment, two audiences
Information prepared for investors works for buyers as well. Corporate English content is built on that overlap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sık Sorulan Sorular
They can, but having to defend the decision means they will not rely on it. Rather than accept translation risk, they skip the source.
The adequacy of English-language disclosure practice. The issue was not that some companies failed to publish but that the practice was not standard.
For export purposes, usually eight to twelve: activity, products, capacity, certifications, references and contact. Blog and local content are not needed.
Directly, you cannot — enquiries never made are uncountable. But the increase after publishing English pages indicates the size of the earlier gap.
In narrow, technical fields yes. Large firms lead on general searches, but competition on specific product and standard queries is considerably lower.
Activity and capacity. Both audiences ask about these first, and they are usually the weakest part of a company’s site.