An important step has been taken towards exporting gold with brands to be created by designing it with technological facilities in modern facilities. In Kahramanmaraş, one of the important centers of jewellery, a move was made to start the golden age with an investment of approximately 350 million TL.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan officially opened the Altınşehir Jewelery Specialized Small Industrial Site, Gold and Jewelry Center and Design and Modeling Center in Kahramanmaraş with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
Speaking at the collective opening ceremony held at the National Will Square, President Erdoğan said, “This industrial site, which will employ 7 thousand people when it reaches full capacity, will make Kahramanmaraş one of the most important centers of our country in gold processing.” said.
Industry and Technology Minister Varank, who came to the podium before President Erdogan, stated that Altınşehir Industrial Estate is a magnificent work and said, “Gold has a very important position in our financial system and our culture. We rank 12th in the world in terms of proven gold reserves. We have gold reserves lying under the ground.” he said.
Noting that gold was not extracted from the ground until 2000, Minister Varank said, “Currently, we are both extracting the gold from the ground and processing the gold above the ground. 360 thousand of our citizens are employed in 6 shops in the industrial site we are building. In the coming period, we will add a thousand new jobs to this industrial site.” he said.
Stating that Kahramanmaraş will increase its exports of over 2020 million dollars to 800 billion dollars in 1, Varank said, “Economy means employment, industry means employment. As the Ministry of Industry and Technology, we will continue to bring this city together with value-added industry under the leadership of our President.” said.
Altınşehir Jewelery Specialized Industrial Site, which was officially opened, came to life with a total investment of 350 million liras. The site, which includes R&D and modern facilities, was built with the support of the Kahramanmaraş Chamber of Jewelers, the Ministry of Industry and Technology and the European Union. With this investment, gold producing companies, which tried to produce under inadequate conditions, were moved to a more modern and planned environment.
The industrial site, built on a 38 thousand square meter land, has 360 workplaces. Currently, 300 workplaces are in service. The industrial site, which currently employs 6 thousand people, will be a source of bread for 7 thousand people when it operates at full capacity. A gemology laboratory and a mint-approved tuning house were also established within the site.
Another investment that was opened was the Gold and Jewelry Center. Gold and jewelery valuation services will be provided to SMEs in accredited and high-tech laboratory conditions with the center with a budget of 40 million TL, realized within the scope of the Competitive Sectors Program carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, co-financed by the Republic of Turkey and the European Union. In this way, the added value in gold production will increase even more and the competitiveness of SMEs will reach an international level.
At the ceremony, the Design and 3D Modeling Center was inaugurated. The center, which will serve SMEs manufacturing in the jewelry sector, will operate within the body of Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University. The Center was co-financed under the Eastern Mediterranean Development Agency (DOĞAKA) and Competitive Sectors Programme. With the project, which is an example of university-industry cooperation, the input costs of companies will decrease.
Turkey, one of the world's largest gold jewelery markets along with India, China, the USA and Russia, ranks in the top three in gold production along with India and Italy. Approximately 250-300 tons of gold and jewelery are produced in Turkey every year. The sector employs approximately 250 thousand people.
Kahramanmaraş is the city with the highest workforce and production capacity in Turkey's gold and jewelery industry after Istanbul. There are about 700 gold and jewelery workshops in the city.
Kahramanmaraş Chamber of Jewelers, Hacı Mustafa Öz, stated that they built a shopping mall-type multi-storey industrial site, which is a first in Turkey, and said, “Our companies are renewing their technologies when they come here. We have now started to use machines and equipment integrated with the world. We want to develop our export network. Our main goal is to create brands that produce special designs abroad.” said.
Mahmut Çilkose, a jeweler in Altınşehir Industrial Estate, stated that he started jewelery business as an apprentice after primary school and said, “We were doing this job in small workshops. Here we are open. We have a chance to introduce ourselves to the world.” he said.
Mehmet Bülbül, the owner of another business on the site, emphasized that tradesmen bought machinery and made investments because there was no space problem, and said, “We export to countries such as Dubai, Iran and Iraq.
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