Kacır: 2.4 Million Square Meters of Land Opened for Pre-Allocation Applications in Our 10 Organized Industrial Zones

Forex - Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır presented awards to companies ranked in the OSB Stars Research. Referring to the changes made in the Organized Industrial Zone (OSB) Regulation, Kacır stated, “With the third announcement we made this month, we opened applications for tenure in 1,115 investment sites covering 16.2 million square meters across 94 OSBs. We have also opened pre-allocation applications for 2.4 million square meters in 10 of our OSBs. We will continue our implementation, which has received great interest from industrialists, with determination.”

Minister Kacır participated in the OSB Stars Research 2024 Award Ceremony carried out by the Organized Industrial Zones Upper Council (OSBÜK) in the Silicon Valley. He emphasized their steady progress in growth and development in investment, employment, production, innovation, and export routes, bolstered by significant achievements in production and technology development.

EXPORT-ORIENTED PRODUCTION: "Our economy has achieved uninterrupted growth for 17 consecutive quarters. Our annual national income has reached 1 trillion 260 billion dollars. In exports, we are at the highest levels in the history of the Republic, with 262 billion dollars. With our export-oriented production infrastructure, strong sub-industry, and supply chain, we are the leading producer of commercial vehicles in Europe. With our strong brands and production infrastructure that allows compliance with international standards, we are Europe’s largest and the world’s second-largest producer of white goods."

COMPETITIVENESS: "In steel production, which supplies critical intermediate goods to many branches of industry, we rank among the top two countries in Europe. With rising investments in renewable energy, we are the leaders in solar panel production in Europe. Turkey, which is increasingly cementing its role as a global production hub, is today the country that can export the most products in the most competitive manner across the belt stretching from China to Central Europe."

PLANNED INDUSTRY: "I would like to congratulate our hardworking and dedicated industrialists who equip every corner of our country with production facilities, which are the insurance of our economic and political independence and the cornerstone of our development. We will always cherish those who believe in the Turkish economy and contribute to the development of this country. We are continuing to remove barriers in front of our industrialists and entrepreneurs on the road to achieving the goal of a great and powerful Turkey. With this understanding, we provide investors with environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and planned industrial areas."

INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF OSBs: "We have made tremendous progress in the number and production capacities of our organized industrial zones (OSBs), which play a pioneering role in the efficient, sustainable, and competitive growth of Turkish industry over the past 22 years. We have increased the number of organized industrial zones from 191 to 363, and the number of industrial parcels in production has risen from 11,000 to 59,000, while employment has soared from 415,000 to over 2.7 million. In just the past year, we have announced 11 OSBs."

QUALIFIED WORKFORCE: "With the expansion area of 33 OSBs, we have created 10,660 hectares of new investment area. We know that one of the greatest concerns of our industrialists is obtaining employees with the right competencies. To overcome this, we have 85 vocational high schools and 23 vocational colleges in our OSBs that play a significant role in meeting the need for a qualified workforce. Through initiatives like Ecole 42 software schools and the Sector on Campus and specialization programs we carry out under the National Technology Academy, we are preparing our youth for the professions and competencies of the future."

GREEN TRANSFORMATION: "We are gradually implementing programs that will enhance the competitiveness of our industry and support sustainable production infrastructure. As part of the Turkey Organized Industrial Zones Project, which we are conducting with the World Bank, next year we will support our OSBs in their 6 billion 300 million lira green infrastructure investments. To meet the green transformation investment needs of our industry, we have established the Turkey Industrial Decarbonization Investment Platform in collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which will provide 5 billion euros of international financing to our industrialists by 2030."

A GUIDING APPROACH: "We announced Digital and Green Transformation Support Programs, where the public exhibits not only a supportive but also a guiding approach to the twin transformation of our industry. We are also introducing legislative arrangements that will pave the way for you, our valued entrepreneurs, who accompany us on our journey towards a stronger, fully independent, and prosperous Turkey."

OSB REGULATION: "With the comprehensive changes we made to the OSB regulation in September, we established a rule-based, transparent governance model that will facilitate access for our industrialists to planned industrial areas. We restricted the transfer of industrial areas before production through indirect methods. We ensured that 15% of the area is allocated for strategic investments in new OSB establishments and expansion areas. We took measures to harmonize site allocations in OSBs with sector-city focused incentive policies. We have made arrangements to enable the establishment of housing areas in OSBs. Every first Monday of each month, we announce all vacant industrial areas in our OSBs online for investors' allocation applications."

PRE-ALLOCATION APPLICATION: "We are also conducting the pre-allocation application, which will allow our newly established OSBs to access the resources they will need for expedited expropriation and infrastructure construction under the same rules. The fact that we received 1,025 allocations for 455 investment sites and 145 pre-allocation applications for 2.1 million square meters of land in the first two months of the implementation serves as proof of the high interest shown by investors. With the third announcement we made this month, we opened applications for tenure in 1,115 investment sites covering 16.2 million square meters across 94 OSBs. We have also opened pre-allocation applications for 2.4 million square meters in 10 of our OSBs. We will continue our implementation, which has received great interest from industrialists, with determination."

WE STAND BY OUR INDUSTRIALISTS: "I would like to emphasize that we will continue to stand by our industrialists and producers with all our capabilities. Last year, we announced the Investment Commitment Advance Credit (YTAK) program, which provides advantageous financing of 300 billion lira for technological and strategic investments over a three-year period during our award ceremony. As of today, we have completed the transactions for 25 investments with a project size of 225 billion lira under this program."

HIT-30: "In July, our esteemed President announced the HIT-30 High Technology Investment Program, the largest scale incentive program in our country's history. We expect you to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by these programs. We aim to connect our country with new high-tech investments. Our perspective is unified, our dreams are unified, our goals are unified, and our direction is unified. We will continue to work together to further strengthen our country’s industry on a competitive and sustainable basis. We, along with our team, are always close to you."