New idea for trade zones in Turkey

The Turkish government is preparing to replace the Free Trade Zone conception with Economic Free Trade Zones, which would include residences, offices, production units and even tourism facilities, according to Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan.

The new zones will also combine land, air and sea freight, the minister said during an interview with the Anatolia news agency.

“These projects will help us decrease the current account deficit and draw more foreign direct investments. They include trade, tourism, logistics, communications and industry in different provinces. We also want to include development agencies in this process,” he said.

“We will build a structure including offices, commercial centers and residences. These structures will serve as a transfer center. We will build places like Dubai, Singapore, Rotterdam and Los Angeles.”

The ministry also plans to build the world’s biggest container port in Mersin with a budget of 2.9 million euros and capacity for 12 million containers, Çağlayan said.

A prototype plan for the Mersin facility was already ready, he said.

Turkey’s biggest free-trade zones are the Europe Free-Trade Zone, the Istanbul Leather and Industry Free-Trade Zone and the Aegean Free-Trade Zone.


/Hurriyet Daily News/