Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said, “13 factories have started production, 6 are on the way. While creating employment in our country’s youngest province, Sanliurfa, we are opening the door to exports.”
The Shoemakers Industrial Zone Project, which was implemented with the Support Program for the Attraction Centers run by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, created a new ecosystem with regional development, while the two-stage project with a total budget of ₺41.8 million opened the employment door for 7 thousand 500 young people from Sanliurfa. Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank stated that the program has yielded fruits, 13 factories have started production and 6 more will be opened.
Minister Varank, in his video message shared on his Twitter account regarding the investment move initiated in Sanliurfa, said, “Attraction Centers Support Program is yielding its fruit. We have created a new ecosystem with the Shoemakers Industrial Zone. 13 factories started production, 6 factories are on the way. While creating employment in our country’s youngest province, Sanliurfa, we are also opening the door to exports.”
According to the statement made by the Ministry, the first phase of the Shoemakers Industrial Zone Project was realized with the support provided within the scope of the Attraction Centers Support Program in partnership with the Sanliurfa Organized Industrial Zone and the Turkey Shoe Manufacturers Association. The first stage, which was completed in two years, cost ₺23 million. ₺15.5 million of the project was covered by the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
13 factory buildings and 7 workshops for the supply of by-products were built in the 2nd part of Sanliurfa OIZ. All of the factories were allocated to 7 companies from outside the province in return for certain employment commitments. Despite the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic, the number of people employed in factories that started production at the end of 2019 reached 1700. Women’s employment was 25%.
The shoe manufacturing capacity of the companies increased to 10 million pairs annually. About 5 million pairs of production are directly exported. It is aimed to increase the number of employees to 3 thousand and the employment of women to 40% with the factories starting to produce at full capacity.
After the successful conclusion of the project, a new ecosystem started to emerge in Sanliurfa. One of the largest sole manufacturers in the sector decided to move its Istanbul production to Sanliurfa. The company that started production aims for a thousand new jobs in the medium term. In order to meet the raw material needs of the sector in Sanliurfa, an enterprise started the allocation process from the OIZ for an artificial leather production facility investment of ₺40 million.
6 new factory buildings will be built in the second stage
Many companies that could not take place in the first stage expressed their requests for the second stage. Sanliurfa Metropolitan Municipality and Haliliye Municipality submitted a project to the 2020 Year’s Attraction Centers Support Program for the construction of the second stage. With a total budget of ₺18.8 million, ₺16.9 million of the project will be covered by the Ministry of Industry and Technology. In the second stage, 6 new factory buildings will be built in Sanliurfa OIZ. 4 thousand 500 Sanliurfa residents will have job opportunities.
For the second stage, Sanliurfa Governor Abdullah Erin held a signing ceremony with the participation of Metropolitan Mayor Zeynel Abidin Beyazgul, Haliliye Mayor Mehmet Canpolat, Karacadag Development Agency General Secretary Hasan Maral, and Sanliurfa Organized Industry Regional Manager Osman Oktay.
Speaking at the ceremony, Governor Erin stated that they, as the public administration and local governments, are making a great effort to develop Sanliurfa, prepare young people well for the future, and take steps to solve the employment problem.
“A Vocational School will be established”
Karacadag Development Agency Secretary-General Hasan Maral underlined that the province has a young and dynamic population, and noted that many young people earned jobs with the start of shoe production. Pointing out the importance of bringing qualified personnel to the sector, Maral said, “Harran University has started attempts to establish a Shoe-Making Vocational School. The necessary approvals have been obtained from YOK.”
Pointing out that they aim to create a total of 7,500 new jobs in two stages, Maral said, “Thanks to our project, 1700 young people who did not operate in the shoe industry before became shoe masters. All our factories will be operational in a short time.”
“Providing women with work is our pride”
Working as a quality control staff in a factory opened within the scope of the Shoe Makers Industrial Zone Project, Kubra Akyildiz emphasized that she was working for the first time and said, “It is very proud that women can work in such a workplace. It feels good to stand on our own feet.”
Ebru Urluk, the mechanic who told that the factory was a place she earned her living after 11 months of unemployment, said that “I have been here for 3 months. I love my job. Women are also in the economy now. We are saying we are here. We are the voice of women.”
Shoe-upper master Mehmet Salih Ocal, who came to Sanliurfa with his family when he was a hairdresser in Istanbul said, “My wife is also working. Our self-confidence has come back. They took us as apprentices and made us masters.”
Foreman Eyup Simsek stated that he had worked as a shoe master in Istanbul before and said, “We are teaching our brothers work here. We provided them with works. As a master, our greatest pleasure is to teach people a profession.”
Halil Ibrahim Yilmaz, the factory owner who moved his business to Sanliurfa, noted that they benefited from the 6th regional incentives and said, “We made our young people who have no knowledge of shoe-making into craftsmen and professionals. Because the population is very young, they adapt very quickly. Production has stopped due to the pandemic in the world, it has not stopped in Sanliurfa. We are currently working with 850 people.”
₺779 million resource
Karacadag Development Agency, which works for the economic and social development of Sanliurfa and Diyarbakir, has transferred ₺779 million to 1212 projects since 2009. With the co-financing of the beneficiaries, 1 billion ₺97 million were brought into the economy. Approximately half of this resource is the Attraction Centers Support Program run by the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
Sanliurfa is the city with the youngest population in Turkey. In the city, whose average age is 20.1, 1 million 383 thousand children and young people between the ages of 0-29 live. The participation of the young population in the workforce is of great importance in Sanliurfa, which benefits from the the most advantageous 6th region incentives.
Source: AA / Translated by Bazaar Times Team