Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The Special Economic Zones on the Road to 2023 Workshop was attended by TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Minister of Economy Zafer Çağlayan, Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Şahin, Turkey Exporters Assembly (TİM) President Mehmet Büyükekşi, Gaziantep Chamber of Industry President Adil Konukoğlu, Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce President Mehmet Arslan and parliament representatives Hüseyin Çelik and Nejat Koçer.

Making the opening speech, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the special economic zone is a very general concept, “To my understanding it includes free trade zones, organized industry zones, tech zones and logistics zones. All of these zones have contributed to our country’s economy and continue to do so. They all have their own problems. The common ground is this: They all are very important tools for achieving our goal of becoming one of the 10 largest economies in the world. If we wish to reach this goal we must view all tools at our disposal in the same regard.”

Emphasizing that in order to ensure we have the industrial and institutional infrastructure we need in 2023, we must create said infrastructure in these zone, Hisarcıklıoğlu went on about the goals set for the year 2023, “We have a national goal. Becoming an economy surpassing 2 trillion dollars in 12 years and take our place among the 10 largest economies of the world. This is not an easy task as despite the macro-economic development put forth in the recent years we must yet improve the investment environment. Likewise, our industry and exports are tied to mid class tech. We are among the top 20 economies at the moment however, we are unable to enter the top 20 in advanced technological production.”

- “There is a need for advanced technology”

Stating that the share of high-tech products is no higher than 5% of total exports, TOBB President emphasized that it is we cannot be content with just a quantitative increase in the economy. We must succeed in the transition from mid class tech to high tech.

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “At this junction, we need a new understanding of the special economic zones. We must build the structure that will boost us to the next phase. This new zone concept, of necessity, will have to be an amalgamation of free trade zones, OIZs and techno-parks. What needs to be done is directing the scope of free trade zones towards technology based added value production and foreign currency generation activities while establishing regional logistics centers to fully integrate with global economy.”

- Special economic zones should be designed to be production cities

Stating that special economic zones must be designed as well equipped production centers, even production cities, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that techno-cities that are connected to airports, railroads, completed housing and office constructions and able to provide quality production. Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that universities, vocational schools, high schools and even elementary schools need to be parts of these economic zones.

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “In addition, these special economic zones should include service sectors like health tourism, internet and software, logistics and education. Dubai media city is an example of this. Many of these zones are being constructed in China and Korea. We must not get left behind.

The Suzhou Industry zone, co-developed by China and Singapore and the Incheon Industry Zone developed in South Korea are examples of this.

These examples must be examined in detail.

These zones which are inspired by the system developed in England in the 1980’s cover an area roughly ten times the ground any one of our largest OIZs cover. They are designed to be centers of living, production, education, technology and logistics.

The governance of these zones is also very important, more so than the services provided. Successful examples in the world have quite advanced governance models; while zone governance is conducted by the private sector while a public administration agency inspects, creating a gas/brake mechanism.

In our current structure, those who ask for permission can most of the time be those who give it. We must construct the infrastructure that will fix basic mistakes like this.”
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