That was on the cover of the weekly news magazine Aksiyon's latest issue. According to the magazine's analyses, investment volume of the Turkish private sector abroad has reached $15 billion.
A few names stand out for their involvement in the rapid expansion over the past few years. Among them is Mr. Ahmet Calik. Calik and his company Calik Holding are among the first names mentioned in Turkmenistan when investment comes to mind in Central Asia.
Calik, now has four successful investments in Turkmenistan: Turkmenbasi Textile Complex (TTC), Turkmenbasi Jeans Complex, Serdar Cotton Mill and Balkan Textile Factory. Other investments and contracting businesses undertaken by Calik in Turkmenistan are worth approximately $1 billion according to a statement issued by Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Turkmenbasi.
The previous day we visited TTC, one of the largest textile manufacturing centers of Central Asia. Here cotton enters the factory and comes out as underwear, T-shirts, shirts, and bed sheet covers. The complex established on a 110,000 square meter area, has six factories employing around 3.5 million people, the majority of whom are women. The 92 percent production is exported internationally, mainly to the US and Europe.
Calik, not only stands out in the textile sector but also in investments in the construction and energy sectors. Calik has contributed a great deal in developing Ashkabat as a modern city. Turnkey constructed factories and many infrastructure projects are an important part of its contracting business.
Calik implemented the construction of a natural gas cycle plant in 2003 and the construction of a paper factory last year. This year, it aided in Turkmenistan to gaining two facilities. In Ashkabat, the Turkmen Sement Cement Factory, the first one of these factories built by GAP Construction company was opened in a huge ceremony by the Turkmenistan President Turkmenbasi. The facility that took 2.5 years to construct, which was estimated to have cost $160 million, is the first modern cement factory in Turkmenistan and employing 585 workers. The machine park was established with machines brought in from Turkey, Europe and Japan. It is expected that the factory will produce one million tones of cement a year. That is a great step forward for Turkmenistan who imports $1.5 million cement in a year. They will manufacture the cement for $25-30, which was previously imported at a cost of $55-60. The President Turkmenbasi stated at the opening ceremony that he would like Calik to build another factory like this one.
Ammonia and fertilizer factories in Tecen, which cost $240 million and constructed over three years, were also due to open today, but were postponed to a later time.
Calik is the first Turkish company to have built cement, fertilizer and paper factories abroad.
The back to back opening of these industrial facilities shows the development in Turkmenistan are not the monuments, the boulevards in Ashkabat but also industrialization and construction of buildings, continue with parallel speed. Turkmenistan is recovering in a full speed with the investments, which were not made during the USSR period.
Though Turkmenistan is a country rich in natural gas and oil reserves, it is taking the right steps with diverse investments in terms of securing the country's economic future. Calik Holding's CEO, Mr. Calik said: "The vision that a president has for his nation is crucial. Esteemed Saparmurat Turkmenbasi keeps Turkmenistan's standards high. The goal is to reach the best for everyone. When you see what has been achieved till today, you can see just what kind of a country Turkmenistan will be in the future."
If this enthusiasm and drive continues, it is not a dream that one day Ashkabat, Mari, and Turkmenbasi cities will be on a par with European cities.
February 15, 2005
Ashkabat
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