President of Konya Chamber of Industry Memiş KÜTÜKÇÜ
IN KONYA OIZ, WE SERVE OUR INDUSTRIALISTS WITH A WORLD-CLASS INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Industry and trade in the province of Konya entered the development process with the Development Plans Decisions taken during the Republican period. Konya Chamber of Commerce and Industry was established in 1926 as a result of the efforts initiated to revive the life of industry and trade and to spread the conscious and systematic developments throughout the country.
The Konya Chamber of Industry has been continuing its activities with the basic principles such as complete and timely service, continuous improvement, establishing and developing the technological infrastructure, training of the employees and being an exemplary organization since the day it was founded. It is continuing its activities in the determination to carry its industry to further horizons. In this context, we talked with the President of Konya Chamber of Industry Mr. Memiş Kütükçü about Konya Industry.
SAVTÜRK: Mr. President, can you give us some information about industry in Konya? What do you think about the export figures of the city?
Memiş KÜTÜKÇÜ: Konya, a province that perfectly transfers its power from agriculture to industry, continues to grow by increasing its claim to become an industrial city. This is of course also can be seen by the figures. Last year, our exports reached a record level of 1 billion 803 million 149 thousand dollars. With this export, Konya broke the export record of the Republic. In the first 5 months of 2019, we exported over $ 890 million. In this period, Turkey export increased by 4.27 percent, and Konya export increased with a great momentum by 20.88 percent. In the first 5 months of this year, Konya was the city that increased its exports the most among the peer provinces. If God lets, I believe that we will reach our end-year target of $ 2 billion.
More than 73 percent of our exports are industrial products. The first two sectors are “machinery and components” and “automotive industry”. Konya industry, which has a rich structure, has proven itself to the world in industrial branches such as machinery and components, automotive spare parts, milling machines, agricultural machinery, on vehicle crane equipment, food machinery and elevator manufacturing. In these areas, the products produced by the entrepreneurs from Konya are working around the world.
SAVTÜRK: We know that Aselsan (military electronics industries) made an investment in Konya. What do you think about this investment and the defense industry potential of the city?
Memiş KÜTÜKÇÜ: Konya, has gained great momentum in the defense industry. We are among the first 5 cities, which realize the export of Turkey in the defense industry.
Such that, 15 companies of Konya became the approved supplier to meet the needs of 27 factories within the structure of “General Directorate of Military Factories”. In the approved suppliers list which is formed of 55 companies from 11 cities, Konya ranked first with 15 companies. This success is an indication of the importance Konya gives to the defense industry and the willingness of the businessmen.
Our biggest goal as a city was to bring a major industrial investment to the city. Fortunately, we made it. Aselsan has decided to invest in Konya together with our entrepreneurs from Konya. 51 percent of the investment belongs to Aselsan and 49 percent belongs to Konya Savunma Sanayi A.Ş. (Konya Defense Industry Inc.), which was founded by entrepreneurs from Konya. The foundation of Aselsan Konya Silah Sistemleri A.Ş. (Aselsan Konya Weapon Systems Inc.), established by two companies together, was laid last March. I hope this investment will draw the attention of other main industrial companies.
SAVTÜRK: What kind of activities does your chamber do about this subject? Can you tell us a few of them?
Memiş KÜTÜKÇÜ: As Konya Chamber of Industry, one of the areas we think hard is the defense industry area. As Konya Chamber of Industry, we have always prioritized the defense and aviation industry. We have done many studies to increase the competence of our city to work with the main industry.
Under the leadership of our chamber, we established the Defense and Aviation Set (Savunma ve Havacılık Kümesi). We organized the “Defense Industry Summit and Supplier Days (Savunma Sanayi Zirvesi ve Tedarikçi Günleri)” for the third time and brought together our main industrial companies and Konya companies.
We organized business trips to main industries such as Aselsan, Roketsan, FNSS, MKEK, together with the businessmen from Konya. We visited the "56th Maintenance Factory Directorate (56. Bakım Fabrika Müdürlüğü)" and conducted studies on how our industrialists can become suppliers.
In parallel with these efforts, our entrepreneurs from Konya started to gain more shares from the defense industry.
SAVTÜRK: Lastly, what do you want to say?
Memiş KÜTÜKÇÜ: Konya has become one of the new industrial centers of Turkey. Konya, which is an alternative production base for the very crowded Marmara Basin, has become the center of attraction of foreign investors with its strong investment advantages as well as its developing industrial infrastructure. For example Unilever
Company; after the Algida ice cream factory investment, it moved its personal care products factory to Konya from Dilovası.
The number of foreign investors will increase with the Logistic Center and Konya-Karaman-Mersin High-Speed Rail Line, which are currently under construction.
Besides the interest of foreign investors, the investment appetite of Konya business world makes us happy despite all the economic difficulties. At every platform, I underline that the future of Konya is fictionalized with production.
The number of active firms in Konya OIZ (Organized Industrial Zone) has increased 10 times in the last 20 years. Currently, 612 factories make production in our region. Nearly 42 thousand jobs created in these factories.
In Konya OIZ, we serve our industrialists with a world-class industrial infrastructure. Only in the last two years, we have made many investments in fields such as electricity-water-natural gas infrastructure, vocational training, air cargo, temporary storage, logistics, automatic meter reading system, renewable energy, fiber optic, MOBESE, fire department and innovation. If God lets, these investments will continue.
We invite all investors to our city, who want to invest and produce added value for our country. Because we know and we see that everyone who trusts and invests in Konya wins. Therefore, we invite both the defense industry main companies and other companies willing to invest to our city.
