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Aksaray Eyes Breaking Out Its Shells
Representatives of business circles in the central Anatolian province of Aksaray constantly point to growth in the cities of Konya and Kayseri, saying the development of these agricultural centers-turned-industrial boom cities is a good example for other cities.
Surrounded by Ankara, Nevşehir, Konya, Niğde and Kırşehir, Aksaray is a central city in the literal geographical sense, but has been unable to sufficiently make use of this location’s advantage in the way Konya and Kayseri have done. What business people here explain is that the city needs a trade mark to catch up to these other cities, while improving its agricultural and industrial production through industrial transformations in both sectors.
There are apparently three key dates that can be regarded as milestones of development in the central of Anatolian city of Aksaray. In 1986, German motor vehicle manufacturer Daimler’s subsidiary Mercedes Benz started manufacturing trucks in the city.. In 1989, the city’s status of province was restituted after being a town under Niğde for 66 years. And, finally in 2004 the adoption of Law No. 5084 led to an increase in investment and employment. Law no. 5084 simply know as “5084” by Aksaray business community, provided tax, energy, land and insurance inceptives for potential investors in 49 low-income – including Aksaray, Ordu, Kars and Erzurum.
Reha Güven has been head of the Aksaray young industrialists and Businessmen Association (AİAD) since April 2009. Güven, 41, worked as a commissioned officer with the Turkish army for five years after an eight-year long stint at military school. After deciding to leave army in 1995, Güven begun to work in the production of office furniture and in the sale of construction material.” Aksaray is a city that is still in (the middle of a) transformation process and is trying to break out of its shell” Güven explains.
AGİAD’s secretary-General İsmail Abalıoğlu likens the way Aksaray seems today to picture he once saw of Konya. Around 1995, Konya was like a construction site, like how Aksaray is today. Abalıoğlu asserts. “Yes its true, we have to pass a certain threshold and continue on our way to creating an added value like Konya did” Güven adds.
AGİAD recently initiated a new service for its 150 members via what it called a foreign trade club. Now companies in Aksaray will have the opportunity to reach 180 countries around the world and export their products to these countries through the guidance of this club” Güven says.
Agriculture and stockbreeding is an important as it was in the past although industrial investment is on the rise. We have to open up to foreign markets by achieving industrial advances in both agriculture and stockbreeding” he added.
After being declared a province again in 1989 and the employment opportunities created by foreign investment in companies Aksaray has seen an upsurge in immigration from its smaller towns and villages. Although Aksaray University was officially established in 2006, the city was earlier host to several faculties of other universities established in neighboring provinces.
The factors above have wrought a considerable change in the compositions and diversity of the population, citizens of Aksaray say; however they still note that the two factors didn’t lead to the desired level of change in terms of urbanization. Thus Aksaray is in a period of transformation in terms of urbanization as well.
The 5084 pill and railway vitamin
According to Himmet Karadal, a professor of business administration at Aksaray University, in order to grow, Aksaray must first determine the fields in which it is strongest and has the power to compete in and draw a road map accordingly.
“Superiority of agriculture and stockbreeding is obvious but let’s say for example in the milk sector, there is need for research and development studies carried out jointly by entrepreneurs and the university” Karadal suggests. In early November, Bursa based Sütaş opened a new integrated milk plant with an annual production capacity of 400 million liters of milk. Yet, according to what Güven and Karadal explained, there are doubts that it will be able to fulfill all of Aksaray’s demand for milk.
Ali Öztürk, head of the Aksaray Chamber of Commerce and Industry believes that a non-populist approach to emerging cities like Aksaray would make everything easier since entrepreneurs in the city are already able to stand on their own feet. ”We appreciate the stability we are about to break out of our shell” Öztürk says, while urging the government to pay closer attention to the functioning of development agencies. Development agencies are analyzing each region’s potential individually in order to provide investors with a comprehensive understanding of the area and are also aimed at convincing leading global companies to invest in Turkey – especially in east, southeast and central Anatolia.
Like Güven, Abalıoğlu and Karadal, Öztürk maintains that building a freight railway linking Aksaray to ports to the south of the city and emerging economic centers – for example as Gaziantep is an “export gate” at the Syrian border – would significantly help Aksaray’s economy since it would reduce production and transportation costs.
This is what we say to the government: “You have prescribed us a medicine via (Law No.) 5084, now you should prescribe a vitamin to us so that we can actively involved in exporting our goods and thus, creating more employment for the people of Aksaray” says Öztürk.
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