The “Free Zones Promotion Workshop” was held in Foça, hosted by IZBAŞ Izmir Free Zone Founder and Operator Inc. İZBAŞ General Manager H. Gürsel Bahçıvancılar stated, “We believe that with the right promotion and strategic communication, our free zones will achieve much more than the current trade volumes and realize their true potential.”
The “Free Zones Promotion Workshop,” organized to develop a joint promotional strategy for the 19 free zones operating in Türkiye and to define a unified message for potential investors, was held at the MW Phokai Resort hotel in Foça, hosted by İZBAŞ İzmir Free Zone Founder and Operator Inc.
At a workshop attended by representatives from the General Directorate of Free Zones at the Ministry of Trade, the Investment and Finance Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, and founder and operator companies that are members of the Association of Free Zone Founders and Operators (SEBKİDER), working groups were formed around two separate themes focused on joint promotion.
At the workshop moderated by Prof. Dr. Aykan Candemir, a faculty member at Ege University, the topics on which the groups brainstormed throughout the day were documented in the form of presentations delivered by the group spokespersons at the end of the workshop.
“OUR TRUE POTENTIAL WILL BE REALIZED”
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, İZBAŞ General Manager H. Gürsel Bahçıvancılar emphasized the great importance they place on strengthening cooperation between the founding operating companies of free zones and public authorities, stating, “With the right promotion and strategic communication, we believe our free zones will achieve much more than the current trade volumes and realize their true potential.”
Noting that they had held an extremely productive workshop with free zone representatives from various cities across Turkey to enhance their capacity to host international events, Bahçıvancılar made the following assessment: “The 7% increase in our exports from our 19 free zones to $7.7 billion in the first seven months of this year, the all-time export record we set in July, the export-to-import coverage ratio reaching 160.9%, and our net-exporting production ecosystem are making a very significant contribution to our country’s global competitiveness. We hope that this contribution will continue to grow and that our country will achieve its vision of export-driven growth.
EXPORT SHARE EXCEEDED 75 PERCENT
Mehtap Arık, Director of the Evaluation, Implementation, and Promotion Department at the General Directorate of Free Zones under the Ministry of Trade, emphasized that the 90,000 jobs created in Turkish free zones and the export volume exceeding 75 percent represent a remarkable achievement.
Arık, noting that 57.4 percent of total exports consist of medium-to-high and high-tech products, said, “We believe that through a more comprehensive promotional campaign for our free zones, we can achieve even higher targets for our country in terms of exports and value added. “In this regard, we will develop closer cooperation, particularly with SEBKİDER, the umbrella organization for our free zones,” she said.
FOCUS ON NEW-GENERATION INVESTMENTS
Zahid Tuncel, Unit Director at the Presidential Office of Investment and Finance, also noted that Türkiye’s International Direct Investment Strategy for 2024–2028, under the theme “Türkiye: A Strong Hub for Investment,” outlines a roadmap aimed at attracting more high-quality investments. He emphasized that, in this new era, free zones need to develop a promotional strategy that, in addition to production and exports, encompasses innovative technologies and mobility and can also incorporate next-generation investments.
“WE MUST GO TO THE INVESTORS”
Yusuf Kılınç, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Free Zone Founders and Operators (SEBKİDER), emphasized the importance of promotion and marketing, stating, “We can no longer wait for investors to find us; we must go to the investors. “We must explain to the world much more clearly in which sectors our free zones excel, which markets they provide access to, what infrastructure they offer, and how they help investors accelerate their projects,” he said.
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