Business organization representatives in the earthquake zone: There should be district-based incentives

The heads of the chamber of commerce and industry in the earthquake region explained the economic situation and demands in the region.

The Presidents of Hatay, Kahramanmaraş and Diyarbakır Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who were guests of Bloomberg HT, emphasized that the incentives to be made should be based on districts.

Hatay TSO President Hikmet Çinçin emphasized that not all 11 earthquake regions have suffered the same damage, and some districts are much less damaged, and stated that the incentives to be made should be based on districts and said:

Since the organized industrial zones were not partially damaged, the working environment started, some companies are working with 30 percent capacity. Individual demands on tents and containers are at their peak. Those dealing with agriculture and animal husbandry want to stay within their own social space. 1800 of the 2 thousand 300 workplaces have been destroyed in the Small Industrial Estate. It is not possible to work in the OIZ and in the city and create a sustainable working environment. Blue and white collar workers who left the city often left for education. In order to realize the reverse migration, we need to start face-to-face training in Hatay in September. It will not work if we try to develop 11 provinces with the same incentive package because the destruction was not the same everywhere. Hatay, Maraş and Adıyaman should be separated from other provinces, and there may even be district-based incentives.

“Trade between provinces in the earthquake zone will also be adversely affected”

Kahramanmaraş TSO President Mustafa Bultu also stated that Kahramanmaraş is an industrial city in the field of textile and kitchenware, and that trade in the region will be adversely affected if support packages are not announced urgently.

Finding, “We also want all incentives to be district-based, because resources must be used correctly and efficiently. In Kahramanmaraş, there are nearly 50 thousand collapsed or being demolished buildings. We want incentives to be made on a district basis and on a regular basis. We have five organized industrial zones. There are nearly a thousand industrial facilities. Almost all of the facilities have both building damage and machinery damage. When we look at our small tradesmen, the workplaces of nearly 29 thousand small tradesmen have disappeared. When we look at the Small Industrial Site, if there are almost 2500 workplaces with 12 thousand employees, close to 1500 have been destroyed. Approximately 50 percent of the textile is processed in Kahramanmaraş, including cotton yarn. Almost the majority of the workforce had to leave the city. We need to wake up small businesses. Urgent action decisions need to be taken now,” he said.

“Shelter problem will cause loss of workforce”

Diyarbakir TSO Chairman Mehmet Kaya stated that there is a commercial relationship between the provinces in the earthquake zone, cotton is collected in Urfa in Diyarbakir and processed in Kahramanmaraş, and if the right incentive packages are not announced, the trade between the provinces will also be adversely affected.

“Diyarbakır has survived with relatively less damage compared to other provinces. In general, industrial facilities do not have any major damage in our small industrial sites. Two weeks later, the production areas were opened immediately. We also have a workforce loss of nearly 20 percent. 25 thousand houses are uninhabitable in Diyarbakir. There are houses with severe and moderate damage that will be destroyed urgently. The problem of housing, which is required for the people here to stay in this city and to return to their jobs, is the biggest problem right now. If the right regulation and the right incentive are not established in the commercial relations between our provinces, after a while, the trade will also deteriorate. Some of our provinces should be postponed with a few legal regulations, grants and supports should be made as soon as possible with a correct incentive system by making district-based analysis, so that normalization can take place.