BY YENER KARADENIZ
The HITAM Production and Trade Base is expected to inject TRY 35bn of added value into the economy per year. The foundation of the project will be laid next month and is expected to be completed in five years. The base will be established on an area of 1.6m square meters in Arnavutkoy, Istanbul with the leadership of the Independent Industrialists and Businesspeople Association (MUSIAD) and in cooperation with the HITAM Joint Initiative of five cooperatives. The project, with a goal of growing 2,000 micro- and small-sized enterprises per year into medium-sized businesses, is expected to contribute USD 200bn annually to the Gross Domestic Product. “The HITAM Production and Trade Base will also employ 70,000 people,” said Murat Kurum, Minister of Environment and Urbanization. 3,500 businesses, from automotive to furniture, will operate in the base, which will serve three million people per year. “Setting up new production and trade bases has become an obligation in a new world system searching for a way to continue manufacturing without interrupting supply chains. This project accords exactly with this necessity,” said Abdurrahman Kaan, President of MUSIAD. “The project will be carried out with an investment of TRY 5bn, including TRY 1.5bn of purchase price and TRY 3.5bn of construction and infrastructure cost,” said Dr. Oktay Dede, President of the HITAM Joint Initiative.
