Great earthquake in industry and commerce is at the door
Businessmen from Kahramanmaraş, which is the epicenter of the earthquake, where irreparable loss of life was experienced, drew attention to the fact that a major earthquake is at the door in industry and commerce. It was highlighted that after the earthquake, in which approximately 10,000 buildings were destroyed, 20 percent of employees were able to return to their jobs due to migration and loss of life.
Stating that 1,500 of the 2,500 workplaces located at the small industrial site are damaged, Kahramanmaraş Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mustafa Bultu said, “We decided to close 2023 with exports of $2-2.5 billion. All these plans are now gone. 95 percent of the production facilities are badly damaged and these facilities will take a long time to recover. We have 29,000 merchants who were affected by the earthquake. If we don’t build the production bases, we will lose 40-50 years of experience”, he summed up the situation in the region.
The dry cleaners and the R&D building of one of the important textile factories in Kahramanmaraş were badly damaged.
EVERYONE FAILS WITH US
Emphasizing that the check clearing system, which will take effect on April 6, will create a big problem, he considered: “These transactions must be urgently stopped and postponed. The volume of business transactions in Kahramanmaraş is 30 billion USD. Maybe it will make a lot of people go down with us,” he said. Kahramanmaraş Chamber of Commerce and Industry Assembly Chairman Hanefi Öksüz stated that the city provided almost 50 percent of immigration. He indicated that not all provinces were equally affected by the earthquake and that incentives must be given by district.
Öksüz said: “Energy support must be provided. These supports must be provided to places and companies affected by disasters. When you do this in 12-13 provinces, both the bill to the state will grow and the region’s industrialists will suffer injustices, ”he said.
We can’t afford to wait
Explaining that the rate of employees returning to work remains at 20 percent, Kahramanmaraş Commodity Exchange Chairman Mustafa Narlı said, “We have no patience. We don’t have time to wait. Anything that is done to Maraş, urgently, must be done as soon as possible. If we don’t, we won’t be able to revive this industry,” he said. Maraş TSO Vice President Hikmet Gümüşer said: “The most important problem here is the loss of skilled labor. Places like Istanbul and Bursa brought our bus staff. We need to carry out a study so as not to lose our trained human resources”.
Businessmen from the region came together to explain the latest situation.
If we lose customers, the machines crash.
Explaining that one of the most important problems in the region is migration, Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association (İTHİB) President Ahmet Öksüz said: “It is necessary to encourage employees, as long as they do not they fall below 1.5 times the minimum salary. It is important that the incentives are directed towards the real need in the correct way. There is nothing to postpone here until after the elections, “he said. The president of the board of directors of Arıkan Mensucat, Mahmut Arıkan, said: “If there is no government support, the machines melt down. Our customers are in talks with countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia and India. We were damaged in this earthquake and we will experience a commercial earthquake,” he said. .
What do entrepreneurs want?
– Employees working in earthquake-affected districts must be paid at least 1.5 times the minimum wage.
– Implementation of the incentives law No. 5084 in the region and delivery of a 40 percent discount on energy within the scope of this law.
– Transition to district-based incentive system. Suspension or postponement of the check clearing system, which will take effect on April 6.