Speaking at the opening of RENEX, which is being held in Turkey for the first time, the minister said, “All measures to curb climate changes would go down the drain if we fail to open the path to green energy.” Turkey has already decided and put forward its priorities on renewable energy, and it must take steps to realize its projections as soon as possible, he noted.
After this, he delivered another speech at the opening of the NATURALSTONE fair. He said the government has so far issued 45,000 licenses for the mining business, half of which were for natural stone and marble. This is a promising situation, he added.
Natural stone and marble producers earned $1.5 billion from exports in 2008 and are expecting to register $1 billion in exports this year. This drop still indicates success, the minister argued, given the rates of decline in export figures of other sectors.
The RENEX 2009 fair has 300 companies participating. At the NATURALSTONE fair, 400 different products, all brought from mines in various regions of Turkey, are on display and 600 companies are attending. Both fairs will be open until Nov. 8.
