NEWS

The Aegean Free Zone had a total of $4.3 billion of trade volume in the past year. Compared to the export rates of 81 cities in Türkiye, the Aegean Free Zone ranked 11th with an annual overseas sales of $2 billion USD, following the cities of Istanbul, Bursa Kocaeli, İzmir, Ankara, Gaziantep, Manisa, Denizli, Sakarya and Hatay.

ESBAS CEO Dr. Faruk Guler said, “the price of goods exported from Türkiye is $1.66 USD per kilogram, whereas this price goes up to $4.1 USD in Germany. The Aegean Free Zone’s export number per kilo is $9.06  which doubles that of Germany and quintuples that of Türkiye. If we wish to achieve our targets for 2023, we must increase the number of free zone models similar to ESBAS.” 

Noting that the exports from ESBAS are not considered as Izmir’s exports, Guler explained that “the Aegean Free Zone alone achieves 22% of Izmir’s export number. ESBAS ranks 11th out of the export figures of 81 cities in Türkiye. Our export numbers were more than that of 37 Turkish cities combined.” 

Guler emphazised that Izmir should be a city of free zones. Noting that they are in close collaboration with the General Directorate of Free Zones Overseas Investment and Services of the Ministry of Economy to make the expansion area of the Aegean Free Zone available to new investors,  Guler noted that this will pave the way for more foreign investors to choose Izmir for their investments. 

“ESBAS must set an example for Türkiye in many ways. Rate of exports meeting imports is 75% in Türkiye, whereas the same rate has been realized at 154% in the past three years at the Aegean Free Zone. Therefore the Aegean Free Zone is a perfect example for closing the foreign trade deficit”, said Guler.

After highlighting that ESBAS, with 19 thousand employees, is number one among all 19 free zones in Türkiye, Guler said, “there are over 70 companies with direct foreign  investments in our Zone and foreign companies account for 70% of the investments. A foreign company in Türkiye accomplishes $2.5 million worth of exports, whereas this number is as high as $10.6 million at ESBAS. These numbers demonstrate that  ESBAS – the Aegean Free Zone is a model that should be emulated to increase investments by export-intensive companies.”