In his speech at the opening of the Samsun Model Factory, which was put into service in the Central Organized Industrial Zone (OSB), Minister Kacır wished that the factory, which will increase the competitiveness of Samsun industry by catching up with the digital transformation process, will be beneficial to the OSB, Samsun and the region.
Drawing attention to the fact that Turkey continues on its path despite the economic, political and social crisis experienced in its region and the world, Kacır said, “With the investment, production, employment and development initiatives we have implemented in the last 22 years, we are taking firm steps towards a stronger and more prosperous Turkey. We continue on our path with the increasing momentum in industry and technology, which are the building blocks of our independence, growth and development. In the last 22 years, we have increased the number of employees in the industrial sector from 3 million 900 thousand to 6 million 700 thousand. We have increased the number of our organized industrial zones from 191 to 360. We have transformed the 45 industrial zones we have established into the production bases of Turkey.”
Kacır explained that they have simultaneously implemented digital transformation initiatives that will strengthen Turkey’s role as a global production base and carry its value-added, competitive and sustainable production infrastructure to the next level, and continued his words as follows:
“With the digital transformation call of our Technology-Focused Industrial Move Program, which offers an end-to-end holistic support mechanism from R&D to mass production for high-tech investments, we are supporting 36 pioneering and innovative projects in the field of digital transformation end-to-end. With the Rising Innovative Technologies Call that we recently announced, we are pioneering new investments in many areas where paradigm shifts are taking place, from climate technologies to material technologies, from biotechnology to information and communication technologies. I invite Samsun industrialists to apply to the call, where applications are open until September 13. Again, with the Digital Transformation Support Program, the details of which we recently shared with the public, we support the projects that our businesses need to create cost-effective, competitive production infrastructure with our investment incentives. In line with the program, we expect businesses to submit roadmaps that will support their short, medium and long-term needs in digital transformation. We support investments compatible with the presented roadmaps with the priority investments application.”
“WE PARTICIPATED IN THE DIGITAL EUROPE PROGRAM WITH A BUDGET OF 8.2 BILLION EUROS”
Kacır, who stated that they continue their initiatives in a planned and determined manner in order to benefit from not only national support mechanisms but also international programs to the maximum extent, said, “We participated in the Digital Europe Program with a budget of 8.2 billion euros. Within the scope of the program, we provided access to critical infrastructures that our SMEs and industrialists need in their digital transformation journeys, from supercomputers to artificial intelligence test centers and experimental facilities. 5 consortiums, which will be one of the most important mechanisms of the Digital Europe Program and important actors in the digital transformation of our country’s industry, SMEs and public institutions, have joined the ‘European Digital Innovation Centers network. Of course, while we share our successful works, forward-looking plans and programs with you, the focus of this entire structure is our qualified human resources and our youth, who are indispensable for the hope of our future. If we continue with determination and determination on the path to our National Technology Move goals, our basic mission here is of course to have an understanding that never gives up investing in our people and youth.”
“OUR PRIORITY IS TO EQUIP OUR YOUTH WITH THE COMPETENCES OF THEIR FUTURE”
Minister Kacır emphasized that the development of young people and human capital always lies behind TEKNOFESTs, DENEYAP Technology Workshops, Sector Campus Program and the newly launched National Technology Workshops, and said:
“It is our priority to equip our youth with the competencies of the future. Another priority is the transformation of our current workforce. We bring our industrialists and laborers together with lean production and digital transformation with our model factories. We have increased the number of our competency and digital transformation centers, namely our model factories, the first of which we put into operation in Ankara in 2018, to 10 in a short period of time. We have organized 508 learn-transform programs in our model factories to date. We have carried out 170 lean project implementation studies and provided training to nearly 3 thousand companies. With these supports and trainings, we have prepared our companies for the digitalization journey of the industry. Thus, I would like to express with pleasure that our industrialists have achieved an increase of up to 76 percent in their productivity, an average decrease of 34 percent in production times and an increase of up to 140 percent in their production. With the 5 new model factories, the installation works of which are ongoing, we will increase the number of these exemplary facilities to 15 and we will strongly realize the adaptation of our industry to the digital age.”
Expressing his belief that the Samsun Model Factory will increase the digital transformation and efficiency potential in the industry to much higher levels, Kacır said:
“We have equipped this facility, which we established in a thousand square meters in the Samsun Central Organized Industrial Zone, with the latest technology machinery and equipment. Our model factory, which will strengthen Samsun’s strong manufacturing industry and increase its competitive power, will be open to all SMEs and businesses that want to participate in lean production training. Our factory, which has already reached more than 800 people with 10 different trainings and events, has started to serve industrialists in the region, especially in Samsun. I have no doubt that this factory, which we established with the aim of increasing the productivity and digitalization of thousands of companies in the future, will be one of the leading actors in the digital transformation journey of Samsun and the regional industry. I want it to be well known that we will continue to work resolutely for Samsun, produce works and services, and conquer hearts,” he said.
Minister Kacır stated that they determined their route for the next 3 years with the Medium Term Program (MTP) chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, and concluded his speech as follows:
“In the upcoming period, we will accelerate the structural transformation with an industrial policy that prioritizes high value-added production in coordination with all relevant institutions. We will offer attractive incentives to investors selectively and on a program basis with our new incentive model that aligns our incentive mechanisms more strongly with the long-term goals of our country. We have identified investment headings that will activate the potential and competencies of our 81 provinces within the scope of the Local Development Initiative Incentive Program, which is an important pillar of our new incentive model and whose details we will share with the public in the near future. Again, with the OIZ regulation that entered into force yesterday, we took steps that are reformative in our OIZ system. We have implemented regulations that will accelerate the expropriation, infrastructure and allocation processes in our OIZs. We will continue to act in close cooperation with our industrialists and entrepreneurs and continue to fertilize these lands with new investments.”
