Hurriyet - Zafer Caglayan, Türkiye’s Minister of Economics, said they will lift the concept of a ‘free zone’, and that they are currently working on a new concept called ‘Economic Free Zones’ that will replace the former.
Caglayan said the new concept aims to reduce the current deficit considerably, to develop foreign exchange-based services and to attract foreign direct investments to the country, adding that these economic special zones will also include houses, residences and business centers.
Commenting on the new concept, Caglayan said they are preparing a prototype for Mersin, and added, “We will establish a significant new structure, in which the incomers from abroad will both reside and use as an office, whilst galvanizing logistics and trade centers. These new concepts will include airports and will have connections to seas, ports, railways and motorways.”
Caglayan mentioned that they are considering forming a broad perspective that will not create a surplus in the special economic zones in Türkiye’s selected locations, but will be beneficial, while covering commerce, tourism, logistics, transportation, communications and industry at the same time. The Ministry is planning to transform neighboring provinces, such as Adana and Mersin, to a structure that can mutually benefit from each other so that they may function together for the welfare of the entire region, with the cooperation of development agencies.