Thyssen Krupp Plans to Establish Additional Plant in Turkey

German industrial giant ThyssenKrupp plans to establish additional plants in Turkey, investing nearly 30 million euros in an organized industrial zone in the Gebze district of the northwestern province of Kocaeli.

On Thursday, the company laid the foundation of additional plants at the zone run by the Association of Automotive Parts and Components Manufacturers.

Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony, State Minister Zafer Çağlayan said Turkey knows no speed limit in global trade. Çağlayan called on investors across the world to invest in Turkey.

Turkey provides all kinds of conveniences to foreign investors, according to Çağlayan. Likening Turkey to a 300-horsepower racing car, Çağlayan said: “We are speeding up on the global trade highway. We do not have a speed limit. You can go as fast as you want.”

Calling on foreign investors to bring their research and development, or R&D, centers to Turkey, he said the government does not impose taxes on R&D spending.

ThyssenKrupp decided to invest in Turkey at the beginning of 2007 and opened its first facility in the same year, said Ufuk Yarlı, the general manager of the company in Turkey. “With this 30 million-euro additional investment, we will create 250 new jobs. The new facility will come into operation by the end of 2011,” he said.

The German company will produce frame assemblies for a new commercial vehicle with the investment. “The frame assembly of the first electric car produced in Turkey will be made in our facility,” Yarlı said.

The ceremony was also attended by Kocaeli Gov. Ercan Topaca, ThyssenKrupp chief security officer Bernhard Osburg and İlker Aycı, chairman of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey.

SOURCE: HURRIYET DAILY NEWS