Menemen Plastic Specialized Organized Industrial Zone aims to increase its annual export volume of 150 million dollars in the coming years. Menemen, Turkey's first and only specialized plastic organized industrial zone, creates added value for the national economy with its domestic and foreign companies. Salih Esen, Chairman of Menemen Plastic Specialized Organized Industrial Zone, stated that the zone is a center of attraction for the plastic sector, and that being a specialized zone in its field particularly adds value to its industrialists.
Menemen, which holds the distinction of being Turkey's first and only specialized plastic organized industrial zone, serves Turkish industry with its production in 31 parcels spread over an area of 80 thousand square meters. Providing employment for approximately 3,000 people, Menemen Plastic Specialized Organized Industrial Zone aims to grow with the completion of its new constructions in 2025.
Salih Esen, Chairman of Menemen Plastic Specialized Industrial Organized Zone, stated that the zone is a center of attraction for the plastic sector, and that being a specialized zone in its field particularly adds value to its industrialists.
Esen explained that Izmir does not receive incentives for plastic production, and a company producing plastic in any OIZ cannot benefit from regional incentives, adding, "An industrialist investing in our Organized Industrial Zone can benefit from 2nd Region incentives due to our specialized nature."
Esen stated that specialized OIZs, which house companies in the same sector, naturally form a cluster, and thus it is easier to find solutions for the problems, needs, and demands experienced by the companies in the zone due to their similar nature.
We would like to get to know Menemen Plastic Specialized Organized Zone. Could you briefly give us information about your zone?
Our Organized Industrial Zone, which holds the distinction of being Turkey's only operational Plastic Specialized Organized Industrial Zone, began recruiting members immediately after gaining its legal entity in 2004. With the participation fees collected from members, expropriation procedures were prioritized in 2007, and subsequently, parcel leveling and infrastructure works were completed between 2010-2015 in accordance with the parcelization plan. In our Organized Industrial Zone, which has 40 industrial parcels, the smallest being 2,500 square meters and the largest 80,000 square meters, the first factory began production in 2016. As of today, production in our zone is carried out in 31 parcels, providing employment for approximately 3,000 people.
Our zone, which hosts leading companies of the plastic sector, both domestic and foreign-capitalized, currently has 40 industrial parcels spread over an area of 85 hectares. With the parcels whose constructions are nearing completion expected to start production next year, full occupancy is aimed, and employment is planned to reach 4,000 people.
Menemen is a first in Turkey as a specialized organized industrial zone in the plastic sector… Could you elaborate on the benefits that specialization in a particular field brings to the sector?
Izmir is a region that does not receive incentives for plastic production. A company producing plastic in any OIZ in Izmir cannot benefit from regional incentives. However, an industrialist investing in our Organized Industrial Zone can benefit from 2nd Region incentives due to our specialized nature. For this reason, our zone is seen as a center of attraction for the plastic sector. Furthermore, Specialized OIZs, which house companies in the same sector, naturally form a cluster. Thus, since the problems, needs, and demands experienced by the companies in our zone are similar, finding solutions to these issues is easier compared to Mixed OIZs.
Could you briefly mention the services you provide to your participants in your Organized Industrial Zone?
In our Organized Industrial Zone, we started parcel leveling works in 2010 by breaking ground. Subsequently, between 2014-2015, we completed our electricity, water, and natural gas infrastructure in the best possible way using the latest technologies. During these years, we also commissioned our fire line network, which is independent of the clean water network and is to be used in case of fire, a feature not found in many other OIZs.
Furthermore, we commissioned our Wastewater Treatment Plant in 2021, which is unparalleled in the Aegean Region in terms of technology used. Our facility, established with the Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) system, was built on a smaller area compared to other treatment plants, thus gaining additional space for our zone. The outgoing water from our facility is even cleaner than the values considered normal according to standards. Our future goal will be to recycle this water from our facility to enable its use in our participants' processes and to protect our natural water resources. We are an environmentally conscious OIZ. Before production even began in the zone, we planted over a thousand trees in our health protection belts. We also adorned the surroundings of the completed parcels with greenery. Visitors to our zone are very pleased with this sight. We plan to crown this importance we give to the environment by also acquiring the Green OIZ title.
We have also commissioned our SCADA System, which covers all our electricity, water, and natural gas networks, found in only a few OIZs in Turkey. Furthermore, we will complete our "Participant Portal" project this year, which will allow our participants to track their instant electricity, water, and natural gas consumption in their productions by sharing the data from our SCADA system.
Could you tell us about your goals for the upcoming period?
As we are a highly sought-after zone by the sector, we completed the sale of all our parcels in 2020. Since we had no expansion possibilities, we could not respond to demands received after this date. As a solution, after long efforts, we submitted our plan revision to our ministry with a zoning change made within our own borders, and our zoning plan was approved in recent months. Within the framework of our new plan, we are striving to add service and support areas, commercial areas, and social areas for our participants, in addition to industrial parcels, to our zone.
Could you tell us about the economic value you create as Menemen Plastic Specialized Organized Industrial Zone? Could you share your foreign trade data with us?
The activation of our Organized Industrial Zone provides added value primarily to the Menemen district, and subsequently to Izmir and the national economy, respectively. Our zone hosts domestic and foreign-capitalized companies that serve and guide every area of the sector. A large portion of our companies also contribute to the national economy, especially in terms of exports. So to speak, exports are made from our Organized Industrial Zone to all four corners of the world. We aim to further increase our export volume, which is approximately 150 million dollars, in the coming years.
Since our topic is the plastic sector, we would like you to provide a general assessment of the sector. Could you briefly evaluate the path the sector has taken from yesterday to today?
The plastic sector began to develop globally from the 1950s onwards. Plastic, indispensably used in many sectors such as construction, packaging, white goods, automotive, textile, and medical, has become one of Turkey's fastest-growing sectors. With 11 million tons, we are the second-largest plastic producer in Europe and the sixth largest in the world. Of course, it would not be correct to examine the entire sector solely by tonnage. We must combine technology-focused efficient production with R&D investments to bring our quality products to a leading position worldwide.
Finally, what would you like to say?
Unfortunately, political tensions and wars in our near geography significantly negatively affect human lives and the economy. Both post-Covid-19 and current freight crises affect the supply chain and cause unpredictable cost increases. The plastic sector, which has a very high imported raw material input, is directly affected by these crises and overturns our industrialists' cost forecasts. To minimize damage from such situations, we must control our expenses and concentrate on production efficiency. We must continue to trust the Turkish economy, which is always dynamic and offers various opportunities.
This content has been translated using artificial intelligence technology.