İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and Local Government Policy Development Association organized a panel titled “Alternative Financing Models and Effective Resource Management in Local Governments”. Former Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Murat Karayalçın also participated in the panel. Tunç Soyer“Up until this point, we encountered many obstacles that you know and do not know. Common mind, science and conscience guided us. And we've overcome all of that," he said.
İzmir Metropolitan Municipality organized a panel on “Alternative Financing Models and Effective Resource Management in Local Governments” with the Local Government Policy Development Association. Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor attended the panel at the Historical Coal Gas Factory. Tunç Soyer, Republican People's Party (CHP) İzmir Deputy Kamil Okyay Sındır, CHP Party Assembly Member (PM) Rıfat Nalbantoğlu, former Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) Chairman and former Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Murat Karayalçın, former Lüleburgaz Mayor Emin Halebak, Local Government Policy Development Association President Özer Doğan, political party executives, union representatives, non-governmental organizations and citizens attended.
Buca Metro explained its investment
It was moderated by the Deputy Chairman of the New Generation Village Institutes Association, Dr. Chairman at the panel undertaken by Semiha Özalp Günal Tunç SoyerHe said that because the Metropolitan Municipality had to stand on its own feet for many years, the municipal bureaucracy showed a great skill in finding external resources. Pointing to the Buca Metro as an example, Mayor Soyer said, “Buca Metro is perhaps the biggest investment in İzmir's history. We created a financing resource of 490 million euros. We formed a consortium with 5 international banks. We found a financing source with a maturity of 3,2 years with a 4 year grace period at 12 interest. This means: If you leave the trains aside, you can finance the entire Buca Metro, which is 13,5 kilometers long and consists of 11 stations. This is one of the most profitable projects in the world,” he said.
“We have a turnover projection of 45 million euros per year”
Saying that normally the depreciation period of subway lines is 30 years, Mayor Soyer said, “But Buca Subway will pay for itself in less than half of that. Construction period is 4 years. Since there is no financing problem in 4 years and we will complete the construction with the syndication loan we found, the payback period begins when the facility is put into operation. When the 4-year period is completed and the metro starts operating, the business begins to pay itself back. We have a turnover forecast of 45 million euros per year. We plan to transport 400 people," he said.
“We overcame all difficulties”
Mayor Soyer stated that Buca Metro will be the first metro line that cuts İzmir vertically and said, “Buca is the most densely populated district of İzmir. When you carry 400 thousand people, you start to pay back the debt with 45 million euros. İzmir will have won a self-paying investment without a penny out of anyone's pocket, and it will have implemented the biggest project in its history. We are proud and proud of it. Until we got to this point, we encountered many obstacles that you know and do not know. But thankfully, common mind, science and conscience guided us and we overcame all of them.”
Praise from Karayalçın to Soyer
Murat Karayalçın, who served as the Mayor of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality between 1989-1993 and served as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the past, as well as the General Presidency of the SHP, stated that when municipality investments were mentioned in the previous years, people only thought of infrastructure investments, and said, “Now, municipalities in other sectors also have a very serious role to play. We see you investing. I learned that Izmir Metropolitan Municipality will soon put into use important investments in milk processing and meat processing. Here, 100 tons of raw milk will be processed daily.”
Murat Karayalçın also stated that İzmir Metropolitan Municipality is an institution that can benefit from money markets without the need for additional collateral by getting the highest rating from Fitch Ratings, the International Credit Rating Agency, and said, “This is the biggest achievement of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. Our Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality is one of the leading names of the new generation municipality”.
“I thank Izmir”
Former Lüleburgaz Mayor Emin Halebak started his speech by referring to the 100th anniversary celebrations of İzmir's liberation and said: “İzmir is the city that ignites hope with the first bullet. On September 9, not only Izmir but the whole country was saved. After 100 years, our hope was fading again, but it rose thanks to you. Thank you Izmir. We watched with tears in our eyes.”
“The support of local governments is important”
Deputy Chairman of the New Generation Village Institutes Association, Dr. Semiha Özalp Günal also stated that poverty is increasing in the country and said, “We need to find solutions to these problems. Local governments are our biggest supporters when we find solutions to these," he said. Özer Doğan, Chairman of the Local Government Policy Development Association, said that municipalities have many problems in front of them and they are trying to overcome these problems.
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