The industrialist produces and sells what he produces. At home and abroad, the investor who braked, is gradually starting to move again. One of these is the Sisecam Group.
Sisecam laid the foundation for a $160-million investment project in the Bulgarian city of Targovishte (Eskicuma) the previous day. The turnover from the facilities, that are scheduled to start the production of glass and glass products by January 2006, is envisaged at $100 million. Exporting 85 percent of the products to the world, the European Union (EU) and the United States in particular, is being planned.
With this project, Sisecam will also carry its 70-year technological accumulation and know-how to this country. The group has three factories in Russia and one in Georgia, besides those in Turkey. It also has a sand supply facility in Egypt. Bulgaria will be the fourth country in which the group is involved in production. Sisecam has three more projects worth $49.5 million, being planned in Russia over the next two years.
Sisecam meets 7.1 percent of the world's total glass production, according to a 2003 data. Sisecam CEO Ersin Ozince, stressing that it is impossible to increase the competition power by staying at home, said, 'To grow and become a world brand, you should have fortresses not only at home but also abroad."
The facilities to be built in Bulgaria are seen as the biggest private sector investment in the country. The number of employees will be 700. In addition to this, it is inevitable that job opportunities will emerge in other sectors, such as, glass processing, transportation, mining, packing and decoration, in a region that will turn into a glass production center.
Bulgaria has attracted a considerable amount of foreign investments in recent years, through incentive implementations. The figure last year stood at $1.4 billion. In the meantime, Turkish investments in this country is at the $300-million level.
The Bulgarian government allocated approximately a 1,000-square-meter area to Sisecam for free to build the factory and also gave the company its title deed. The government will spend $9 million for the substructure as well.
Targovishte city, where the factory is to be built, is 130 kilometers from Varna city, located on the Black Sea coast. It is a region most densely populated by Turks.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyp Erdogan and Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Sakskoburgotski laid the foundation of the factory together. Turkish villagers around welcomed Erdogan as he came to the construction site by helicopter.
Erdogan mingled with the people, who were carrying both Turkish and Bulgarian flags, and chanting, "Welcome Turkey, Welcome Erdogan," and shook hands with them, one by one. He asked how they were doing. Many had come to see him and listen to him, as well as witness this giant investment. One of the Turkish people living in the area I talked to, said, "I have shaken hands with Mr. Tayyip before I die. Thank God," adding, "With this factory, the poor in this neighborhood will have jobs, the posture of the area will change. "
At the ceremony, which started with a performance by Bulgarian folk dancers, Sisecam administrators as well as the prime ministers of both countries delivered friendship messages.
The happiness of the Turkish people living in the area could be seen in their eyes, because of the foundation of this facility, laid in a province where the unemployment rate is among the highest. While Targovishte Governor Behcet Kerim said, "This big project will provide an opportunity to end unemployment as well as migration in the region, and the region will stand out as an example of development," the mayor of Bulgarian origin emphasizing that this was a historic day, said, "After 20 years of silence, a big industrial facility is being built in the region. We tried very hard for this investment to be made here."
In recent days, after news that two mosques have been converted into a restaurant in Filibe, the step taken by Sisecam is a significant and momentous improvement experienced with Bulgaria in the name of friendship. We hope that the Bulgarian government will crown this development by giving back the real identities to the mosques.
July 9, 2004
